Blood, Ice and Oil
by Tyranidlord
Summary: Sos do Dov (Part 14) Following the path laid out to them by Esbern and Septimus Signus, Kaus, Sofia, Lydia and Serana have joined the expedition to Alftand in search of an Elder Scroll. Delving into Dwemer Ruins is dangerous enough but when winter traps them within the dig site, traps and Animunculi are less dangerous than the fear and mistrust borne from the threat of starvation.
1. Arrival

Many years before, Sofia had come to the conclusion that there was cold, and then there was _cold_. Skyrim was cold all year round with a seeping chill that plucked at the flesh and caressed the skin until goosepimples spread and grew. The winters and especially the regions universally known as '_The Pale_' were the pure embodiment of true _cold_.

This was a cold that was as merciless and unforgiving as the plague and killed much more quickly. No matter how well dressed you were or whatever fancy magicka you could enchant yourself with, this cold and frigid touch of Kyne would freeze the blood in the veins and kill any and all it could reach. Only by removing oneself from its grip could anyone hope to survive and this was one of many reasons why the majority of the Pale was utterly uninhabited.

With the jagged peak of Mount Anthor rising above its lesser siblings to the south and other similar ranges to the east and west, a large majority of the worst weather from Atmora was channelled and compressed into the Pale. Dawnstar and Winterhold might be permanently covered in snow but the Pale was well known for the season encompassing storms that lasted entire months. The glacial fields in particular were unpassable during the long night of winter, and the storms could and frequently buried the area under dozens of meters of snow.

This fact left Sofia unsure whether she was more concerned about the intent to stay in the Pale during one of these 'season storms' or the fact that she would have to ration her drinking to ensure that she would get through the following months without running out.

At least this time they were travelling by wagon, along paths in the stone for the most part before they began moving out over the glacial iceflows. Every wayward squeak and crack of ice left them all gripping the sides of the wagon in preparation of leaping to safety despite the driver's assurances that this road was safe. For kilometres in all directions there was little to see but the rare rocky hills and jagged peaks that erupted from the ice. They were short and quite pathetic to look upon in comparison to their larger cousins surrounding the icefields if one didn't know that the ice was dozens of meters thick. Those tiny outcrops of rocks were in their own way icebergs, sinking deep under the surface and hiding their true bulk under the billions of tonnes of frozen water.

"Well Kaius, when you want to take a girl somewhere special you definitely mean it."

Kaius was sitting with his back against the side of the wagon, boots on one of the crates of supplies piled towards the front and he barely even looked in Sofia's direction. Ever since Winterhold he had been quieter than usual, which was a hole that Sofia had filled even without conscious thought.

"It's only a bit of ice." He said, pulling his wolf cloak tighter and shrugging it and his hood over his face from the creeping cold.

"This is not just 'a bit of ice' Kaius." Serana added, looking about and still somehow appearing enraptured at the sights before them. Even the four-day journey from Winterhold and the lack of sights that didn't include clouds, rocks and endless glaciers had failed to dampen the ancient vampiress' spirit.

"It's cold and dangerous and we're going to be living in it for a while. There's not much else to it."

Serana and Sofia shared a look of exasperation for a moment before Sofia rolled her eyes. Kaius had been… _grumpy_ for the lack of a better word ever since Winterhold. Between his mood and the situation they had found themselves in the three women accompanying him had bonded, somewhat to their surprise. While there wasn't exactly trust between Sofia, Lydia and Serana, there was an ever-building amount of respect at least.

One of the things that Sofia and Serana held in common was a similar appreciation for sights such as that they found themselves faced with. While to most it was an empty expanse of nothingness, the two women found themselves spellbound by the majestic beauty of it. Where the ice was visible under the rolling snowdrifts it was a crystalline blue-green and so far from anything described as civilisation there was no trace of habitation, no swirling clouds of smoke from hundreds of cooking fires and industry and no stains that man and mer inflicted.

All except the tiny collection of wooden huts erected at the edge of the glacier that the wagons were rolling across. The glacier was so enormous that the trio of buildings appeared as though they were specks of dirt upon a moonstone shield and there was no doubt of the overwhelming size of such a place.

"Welcome to the excavation." Called out one of the several individuals sitting on the nearest wagon. "Or the '_Edge of the World_' if you are that way inclined."

Even the other Orcs that they had met in the Dawnguard's ranks would have matched the sheer physicality of Yag gra-Gortwog's personality from years of supervising miners and labourers. As the wagons ground to a halt within a stone's throw of the buildings she hopped out and landed with an impact that cratered the hard-packed ice and immediately began shouting orders.

No matter how tough one thought themselves, having an Orc of Yag's stature bellowing to get out of the wagons made everyone scrabble in an instant. She moved along the wagon train, calling out orders and beginning to stamp her verbal mark onto everyone in earshot even as they, and the dozen or so other hired hands piled out of their own wagons.

"Gods damned does she have a set of lungs." Muttering to herself, Sofia pressed a boot into the snow and ice under her feet and tried not to feel some sort of trepidation. A part of her mind, assisted by the books she had read about the area told her that she had nothing to worry about but even with hundreds of meters of ice under her feet it was truly impossible to remove the fear of falling into a crevice. It didn't help that less than fifty metres away was one such crevasse hundreds of metres wide as though a titan had stepped onto the world and cleaved it asunder.

Kaius didn't have eyes for the area and barely batted an eye at the Orc stalking between the dozen wagons barking orders. He instead dragged his pack off the back of the wagon and threw it over a shoulder but Sofia had been travelling with him long enough to see the way his entire body tensed.

"Kaius? What is it?"

His eyes were narrowed and she could see the tell-tale signs of his unease in the way that he went from casually moving to moving as light as feather and as deadly as a storm. Before she even realised what she was doing Sofia too had dropped a hand to her sword and moved closer, especially as she realised that Lydia appeared just as uneasy.

"I'm not sure." He was moving quicker now, stepped into the space between the wagons and the buildings with increasing strides." "But isn't there supposed to be more people here?"

With a start Sofia realised that he was right, the entire area was empty except for those few who had travelled with the wagons. The buildings were empty and hollow of life despite the smoke rising from the thin metal chimneys but there was plenty of signs in the fresh snow of people being present recently.

Closer to the edge of the enormous cliff, Serana had made her own way in search for a better vantage point to take in the sights of hundreds of kilometres of gleaming glaciers and the Sea of Ghosts far to the north. The cold was truly a home to her but such sights left her smiling, even with the Sun's draining effect on her body as she gazed across the emptiness but Kaius was the first to truly notice the problem.

"Serana? You might want to come over here."

Her expression of blissful happiness faded as she turned to see Kaius and Lydia moving quickly but carefully over the snow towards her with Sofia lagging slightly behind. The grim expressions were all too obvious, as was the sounds of the others in the wagon train calling out for those they were expecting to meet.

"Okay, what the fu-" Sofia had time to begin as she caught up to Kaius, looking about the buildings and going to scratch herself at the same time. She barely even had a chance to get the words out of her mouth before one of the many snowdrifts a handful of paces to her left exploded.

There was barely any time to react, no time for conscious thought and her subconscious reacted dutifully by making her fall hard onto her butt with a squeal of surprise. Not that anyone was able to hear her sudden and embarrassing shock from the blood curdling roar that buffeted them with its sheer force. Nothing in the bounds of Tamriel could ever hope to match the soul-churning might of a Dragon but the creature who's fangs and salivating maw that encompassed her vision was a worthy contender.

Each tooth alone was monstrously large and were as long as her forefinger and there was no doubt that she could almost fit her entire head into the jaws. The primal nature of the roar thundering through the air was enough to crack ice in the crevasse and cause minor avalanches. After all the times that she had faced vampires, frostbite spiders, draugr, dragons and countless other beasts Sofia had never felt so close to death.

That was until the jaws snapped shut and the owner straightened up giggling.

"J'darr wishes you could see your faces!" The towering wall of fur said in a thick accent that was more akin to a growl.

Despite the laughter echoing from many of the caravan hands Sofia was struggling to think or rise, her brain still stuck in fight-or-flight instincts and unable to come to terms with the fact that a being with all the size and build of a snowbear was laughing over her. It also wasn't helping to see the way that Kaius' face had grown taut or that Serana was suddenly looking extremely self-conscious and trying to hide the fact that her fingers had almost doubled in length.

"Malacath curse your striped hide!" Yag roared, charging the furred creature and smashing a fist across a fanged jaw. "How many fucking times do I have to tell you not to play your stupid tricks!"

Appearing admonished and even audibly whining, the furred being hunched down low and rubbed his face with a paw much larger than even Yag's hands. "J'darr is sorry. J'darr was just playing."

"I don't want to hear your excuses. Every damned time you do this to me. I swear you're going to give me a heart attack one day." Yag stopped in mid motion, looking about and sighing loud enough that everyone could hear. "Where's your brother and the rest of your flea infested kind?"

"Big-Boss wanted J'zhar and others in the hole. Big-Boss left me on top to keep watch."

"Ugh, of course." She turned and pointed to one of the wagon drivers and gestured towards the cliff face. "Maron, go down and tell Sulla that we have arrived and round up everyone his lordship can spare." With another gesture she encompassed the remaining people, including the cowering being at her feet. "The rest of you, start unloading."

Muttering curses under her breath and not sparing a single further glance to anyone, Yag moved off in the direction of the largest hut and left them to their own devices. Sofia was still shaking as she rose to her feet, and gulped as the furred creature that had jumped from under the snow rose to its full height and shook itself like a dog.

"What in all the gods' names are you?"

Ears twitching in her direction, a feline expression of amusement looked down on her and she felt increasingly small. "You speaking to J'darr? J'darr is a Khajiit."

A mutual expletive was shared by Sofia, Serana and Lydia as they all had to crane their necks to look up at what was now undoubtably an expression of amusement. "There's no way that you are a Khajiit." Serana stammered.

"Of course, J'darr is no mere Khajiit, J'darr is _pahmar-rhat_."

Sofia was blinking and trying to stop her shakes as the adrenaline continued being pumped through her body. "What's a _pahmar-rhat_?"

"A Khajiit about two hundred kilograms heavier than a normal breed." Kaius's tone was cold and while he too had been taken off guard by the enormous Khajiit's ambush his expression had hardened. There was also no sign to how close he had come to counterattacking in the seconds after the giant Khajiit appeared.

Despite the fact that she was somewhat annoyed with Kaius' mood Sofia and the others couldn't doubt that he was correct. J'darr was one of the largest beings she had even seen and only Cuddles; Gunmar's pet troll was larger. Even so it was not by much, as the enormous _Pahmar-raht_ was well over three hundred kilograms and would had stood head and shoulders over Farkas who was easily one of the tallest men in Skyrim.

Purring to himself, J'darr smiled again with a maw as large as a sabrecat's and moved past them. Despite his bulk he moved softly and silently which only made him appear even more terrifying. His strength was also impossible not to notice as he moved over to one of the wagons and with a single arm plucked out a chest that should have taken two full grown Nordic men to lift.

"I didn't think that the cats grew that large." Lydia muttered as J'darr walked past carrying her weight in cargo under arms as wide as her shoulders. There was a wariness in her tone and stance at the sight of the enormous creature walked past giving the impression that it was purring a tune due to the inability to whistle.

"You should see the _Senche's_." Kaius replied as he dragged a chest off a wagon and gripped it tightly. "They grow even larger and the Khajiit ride them to battle."

If he had been his usual amused self and with his habit of sarcasm, they all would have been left wondering whether he was telling the truth but there was no hints of falsehood in his words. Instead they looked with growing trepidation as a handful of Khajiit and a dozen other sturdy looking men and mer made their way up from the cliff face. Each one of the Khajiit were enormous specimens but all bar one was nowhere near as overwhelmingly enormous as J'darr. The largest of the newcomers exchanged what sounded like a brief exchange of words that were a mixture of growls and yips to J'darr on the way past before moving over to the newcomers with a similar expression of amusement.

"I see you all have met my brother." He said, making a keening purr that with a considerable amount of imagination could be described as a laugh. With paws as large as shovels he gestured in the direction where he and the other labourers had appeared where stakes and ropes were hammered deep into the ice. "I'm J'zhar. Welcome to Alftand."


	2. Settling In

Under Yag's watchful eye the labourers and mercenaries went about the process of unloading the wagon train as quickly and efficiently as they could. The Khajiit were exceptionally useful and while none were the same size as the enormous _pahmar-rhat_ brothers they were all larger than the more common _Suthay_ and _Cathay_ breeds. Even the smallest of the dozen strong band were larger than Kaius and Lydia combined and together the group of _pahmar's_ hauled the dozens of crates and chests into the largest surface hut. The other labourers and hired hands, especially some of the more traditional Nords among their number were let feeling awkward at the sight of a race typically regarded as thieves and tricksters hauling weights that put them to shame.

To the unspoken relief of many of those present the wagons were unloaded and the horses led to the second of the trio of huts to be out of the reach of the _cold_ before it was time for everyone else to remove themselves from the wind. While it wasn't a surprise for Kaius and his companions it was for the few among the new arrivals to find themselves being led to the cliff's edge where a winding series of bridges had been carved and hung from the glacial wall. The wall itself was enormous and from the very top to the base of the wide crevice that snaked its way through the ice was a drop over a hundred metres in height. It was so deep and so extensive that to simply walk around the mountain-length crack in the ice required a four-day journey to the south and back to reach the opposite point. To the north lay nothing more than a further cliff face of ancient ice that also snaked its way between the Dawnstar Mountains to the mountain range separating Winterhold from the glacial fields.

The glacier they stood on was larger than half of the holds in Skyrim but offered little more than death and nothing seemed to highlight this more than the sight of an entire city frozen beneath it. Dark pillars of shadow like curved tombstones could be seen in places in the cliff faces where they speared through their frozen tomb. Some were closer and in a few places they even managed to breach the confines of their millennia long prison to reveal curved stones and sharp angles of perfect geometry. There was no mistaking how these ancient stone buildings were not made by the hands of the Nords or the other races of Tamriel. These architectural marvels capable of withstanding four thousand years of encroaching ice, and millions of tonnes of glacier with barely a crack were of Dwemer make. It was these buildings, and the city that they belonged to that were the ultimate goal of the excavation and its Imperial leader.

Middle aged and with his blonde hair slowly succumbing to grey, Sulla Trebatius had an air of authority that hung around him like the bear furs he wore to ward off the cold. There was no mistaking his role or his position as the leader of the entire expedition nor the fact that he scurried about with a rat-like nervousness. Every single item that was brought down from the surface and up from the tunnels had to be passed under his feverish eye as though they all were precious family heirlooms. From the rumours and stories of how the excavation had been personally financed by Sulla, none of his hired hands could really complain about his personal idiosyncrasies.

"I bid you all welcome." He said with an air of refinement, holding his gloved hands in front of himself and looking over the group. After unloading the wagons and making their tentative way down the bridges carved into the glacier, the newly hired labourers and mercenaries were led into a cavern hewn by hand in the ice. It was as large as a main hall of a castle if not for the roof that hovered only a few hand spans above their heads. Thankfully it was large enough that everyone, including the largest of the Khajiit could walk without stooping. "My name is Sulla Trebatius and you all now work for me."

There was a feeling of trepidation and excitement from the newly arrived workers as they looked about and only Kaius seemed to be standing as still as a stone. A handful of other individuals were also present beside Sulla but Kaius' eyes were roaming, and narrowing at the sight of a terribly mangled lump of metal and gears laying on top of one of the tables.

"This excavation has been a work in progress for the better part of two years and with your assistance we will not only make our marks upon the pages of history but will also fill our pockets with coin." Smiling he moved about the room, making eye contact with every single person present and seeing the glittering greed in all of those before him. "Your roles will be very simple but rewarding. Those of you within mining experience will be responsible for continuing digging the tunnels until such a time that we discover a means of entry into the city. Once such a breach is made or discovered we will then acquire and catalogue everything of value for the Empire."

Lightly with the tips of his thick gloves, he caressed up the length of a vaguely humanoid collection of bronze-like metal and plucked a gleaming stone out of the ruined chest cavity. "As you can see the digging has already uncovered a few items of note so you can imagine what we'll find as we get closer to our goal."

Those within the new arrivals such as Sofia and Serana who knew better didn't bat an eye at the quartz like stone in his hand. Soul stones, especially a lesser quality stone such as the one he held were not true treasure but for those without the knowledge it would have appeared like a priceless jewel.

As he continued looking about the collection of individuals one particular face and expression caught his eye and he paused, frowning and stepping forward. "You don't seem overly enthused to be here." He said, gesturing to Kaius.

Sulla wasn't the only one frowning but unlike everyone else Kaius' attention was on the bent and twisted arms on the crushed automaton. One appeared to be a twisted hunk of metal in the obvious shape of a sword and still holding an edge despite the damage, and the other was a broken crossbow arrangement that still looked dangerously effective.

"Dwemer ruins are not for the faint of heart or the unwary." He said, his eyes finally meeting Sulla's for the first time.

A stony silence fell between the two men and somehow Sulla had the appearance of straightening up despite the two men being of equal height. Other than the slightest twitch of an eye there was nothing to show the thoughts of the expedition's leader as he had a closer look at Kaius, and the scars that were visible.

Deciding that the younger looking man was not teasing him or that a man such as Kaius with such injuries could be craven, Sulla visibly relaxed and gave an honest smile this time. "What is your name."

"Kaius Desin."

"Well Master Desin, you don't have the look of a miner or labourer so I assume you are one of the new guards. This means that you were well informed of what dangers you could face here and yet you still came."

Kaius shrugged and returned his new employers gaze. So far he and his companions had purposely kept his title of Thane of Whiterun and his true title of Dragonborn secret and for all intents and purposes he was nothing more than a sword for hire. "Yag informed us that there had been some deaths and you were all close to finding a way in. That means traps and Animunculi."

"Yes… we are well aware of what the Dwemer have left waiting for us, but the greater the danger; the greater the profit." The Imperial looked over Kaius' armour and lingered for a moment on the sword sheathed at his hip. "You do seem prepared at least."

"My colleagues and I can handle ourselves."

Sulla paused and looked over the three women standing close to Kaius and recognised their kinship to one another. His expression softened as he regarded Sofia in particular but there was no disguising the curling smile as he looked at Serana.

"Well then, you all could prove to be useful I suppose." Sniffing disdainfully, he turned from them with some effort, making a curt gesture to the expressionless Redguard standing off to the side as he raised his voice for all to hear. "Those recruited for their martial expertise will be reporting directly to Madame Umana, Yag will organise the miners and labourers and mistress Valie will be interested in anyone with knowledge of magicka."

Each of the women he gestured to nodded in turn and looked over their prospective charges. Yag was obvious from sheer size and presence alone, her bulk and muscles still impressive despite her gender and the fact that there were a couple of Khajiit that were over twice her size. Dressed in full plate armour that was lined with furs for protection against the cold, Umana was tall and broad shouldered like most Redguards and with a sword at her hip that looked extremely well used. Of all the individuals within the chiselled cavern it was the tall high Elf who appeared out of place with a nervous disposition and the typical height of her race. She looked among the assorted mercenaries and labourers with something akin to trepidation and unease and didn't relax in the slightest.

"Again, I welcome you all to the Alftand." Sulla continued, already forgetting his brief exchange with Kaius and moving away from the group. "Please take the time to settle in and become acquainted with your supervisors and colleagues but be advised that tasks and duties will start being distributed as soon as you have chosen a place to sleep. The long nights of winter are approaching and there are many tasks that need to be completed before it arrives."

Without a further word, Sulla turned on his heel, nodding to his direct subordinates and walking down one of the handful of tunnels spearing deeper into the ice. The message was clear though, he was certainly not a hands-on leader and the newcomers would be left under the responsibility and supervision of those who had been with the expedition since the beginning.

Initially the new arrivals stood still, looking aout with a measure of confusion before some of their number began shuffling their way towards their new bosses. Most moved towards Yag with only a handful moving in the direction of Umana's armoured figure leaning against the roughly hewn ice walls. What did surprise most however was the way how Kaius shared a brief nod with Lydia, before they moved towards Umana and Valie respectively.

Valie especially was surprised, her expression telling volumes how she didn't expect to have anyone under her supervision let alone Kaius, Sofia and Serana standing before her. She left Sofia with the distinct expression of a startled deer and somehow looked smaller and shorter than her, Kaius and Serana despite her ancestry providing her with two metres in height.

Her eyes, while nervous were a crystalline blue matching the glacier in its intensity with flecks of gold and they looked over the trio presenting themselves to her. "You all have magical skill?"

The three of them nodded and Sofia was beaming. "We all have some, Serana is probably the most experienced though, isn't that right?"

As she was accustomed to, Serana was taken aback and left on the back foot as a result of Sofia's actions. "Uh, I… I guess I'm-"

"And Kaius certainly has experience with magicka too."

Both of the vampires momentarily stared daggers at Sofia and her grin was as enormous as a slaughterfish's. Valie, like Serana was also on the back foot and eyes bouncing between them all with her mouth tightening into a grimace. "What sort of experience?"

With her eyes firmly focussed on Kaius there was no doubt her reasons for asking him. It was extremely rare for any mage to wear anything more than leathers, robes and maybe chainmail in the most extreme cases. For one such as Kaius to make claims of using magicka while dressed in a similar amount of plate steel as the Redguard guard commander was somewhat suspicious.

"I dabble mostly." He replied smoothly and only Sofia, Lydia and Serana knew the truth or could hear the lie he gave voice to. "Mostly Destruction and Restoration but I do have experience in Mysticism."

"Mysticism?" For a moment Valie's voice threatened to crack with nervousness before she visibly swallowed and studied Kaius a little more closely. Whatever she saw seemed relieve some of her fears for the moment at least. "I take it you aren't a member of the College or the Mages Guilds?"

"Never been one for formality." Kaius replied. "I hope that's not going to be a problem?"

Normally his voice would have been smooth and calming but all three women bristled somewhat at his tone. Sofia in particular gave Kaius a dark look that he either failed to notice or simply chose to ignore.

Valie kept glancing in his direction but she appeared to have some difficulty keeping anyone's gaze for more than a second at a time. "N-no. The opposite actually. It's…It's just I haven't had a good history with the College."

"Looks like we can make a club then." Sofia added, gesturing to herself, Kaius and Serana in turn. "I'm Sofia, hopefully you heard Kaius introduce himself earlier and this is Serana. Depending on what you need I think that we can offer some help in regards to Magicka."

Her eyes danced about, meeting their own gazes for the briefest of moments before she forcibly relaxed and gave hints of a smile. "I guess you all will be of some assistance, which also means that I may as well show you around."

Motioning for them to follow her, she gave one last look over the other new members of the excavation to see if any others had undisclosed magical ability before making her way towards one of the tunnels. "How familiar with this excavation and its overall purpose are you all?"

"Marginally." Kaius lied without the slightest hesitation. "You all are looking at digging up a Dwarven city and getting whatever loot you can find."

The flash of irritation was obvious of the Altmer's face and the hesitation and nervousness that she was showing before receded. "You mean the _Dwemer_." She again sighed and to Kaius and the other two women they could see that she was now left with the assumption that they were little more than ill-educated sellswords. "And we are not seeking to 'dig up' the city as you so eloquently put but rather 'dig into'. Alftand was one of the richest and largest of all the Northern Dwemer Kingdoms and with the ice it should be untouched."

"Unlike some of the other ruins throughout Skyrim." Serana added simply.

"Indeed. This may very well be the last vestiges of the ancient civilisation that hasn't suffered through thousands of years of grave robbers and other archaeological teams shifting through them and waking up all their mechanical horrors. If we are exceptionally lucky this city will be inert and asleep which will allow us to penetrate through its defences."

"And if we aren't lucky?" Kaius muttered, mostly to himself.

"Then as soon as we uncover an entrance into the city proper we will be faced with Animunculi and you and the others with martial experience will be required to deal with them."

They continued down the tunnel carved from the living ice itself and beyond the handful of tiny lanterns the way was lit by soul gems imbedded into the chiselled walls. Each glowed faintly but the ice seemed to reflect and enhance the tiny light sources until their path was visible but Valie led the way with a tiny magelight bouncing playfully at her shoulder.

'What does everyone expect to find once you find a way into the city?" Sofia bounced along behind the Altmer mage, looking down each branch in the tunnel and they could easily see that dozens of rooms had been carved out and wooden supports built in places to brace the ceiling.

"Artefacts, relics of their magick-technology and the usual assortment of treasure and valuable items. I'm hoping to find examples of how they enchanted their Animunculi and Sulla believes that the city provides an entrance into Blackreach."

"_Zhardum D'faldin._" Sofia muttered but her eyes widened at the same time that Valie's did as she stopped and turned to look at her.

"You know of Blackreach?" she said with a voice filled with suspicion and surprise. "How?"

"I… uh… I'm the bookworm of the group. These lot," She gestured to Serana and Kaius. "are more interested in practical matters but I've been interested in history."

"What sorts of history?"

"Nordic Kingdoms and the history of the Holds, especially those in the first and second eras. I've been in enough tombs in my life to realise that learning a bit about who and what have been interred in them is usually beneficial if you're not looking at getting your face bitten off by a draugr."

Silence fell between the group and only the echoing footfalls and snatches of conversations from other portions of the tunnels reverberated around them as Valie met Sofia's gaze properly for the first time. Her nervous disposition was still present but there was an increased wariness now as she looked over Sofia and the way that her armour was noticeable under her furs and cloak. Sofia knew that she and the others certainly didn't have the appearance of scholars or learned individuals let alone mages, but after a moment of scrutiny Valie seemed content.

"Endrast is going to like you I think."

Trying not to show any signs of relief and ignoring the dark expression consuming Kaius' face Sofia smiled at the taller High Elf. "Endrast?"

"Endrast Mirahorn. He's our local guide to all things ancient. Apparently he's an explorer of some renown but he has experience with the Dwemer and without him we would be digging randomly and hoping for the best."

Kaius and Serana's expressions were too obvious not to notice and Sofia shrugged. "I'm not certain that I know of him but Skyrim's a big place."

Like his companions, Kaius was looking about the branching tunnels and the various rooms dug into the ice with interest. "How experienced is he?"

It was Valie's turn to shrug and she continued on down the tunnel. "Experienced enough I suppose. He understands the general layout out Dwemer cities and after he joined us, he assisted us in identifying where to dig. We're now a lot closer to the city gates and even managed to break into some of the upper levels of some of the buildings."

"You managed to break Dwemer stonework?" Serana asked dubiously.

"Not ourselves. Their buildings appear impervious to damage but many of the upper levels have been crushed by the glacier. The city as such appears to be in a very rough shape of a dome with all the various towers and buildings but most built above bedrock have been crushed. The few that we have managed to retrieve relics from are little more than ruins but each one we find is one step towards a way into the underground levels."

Coming to an oversized intersection of tunnels, Valie motioned for them to halt and nodded in the direction of the tunnels before them. "The excavation is extensive and so are the tunnels however you must keep in mind that these tunnels are dangerous and some are not to be traversed. There is no secret that we have lost people during the diggings and not all of them are from cave ins. The ice appears solid but crevices are a regular occurrence the further you head down this tunnel," she motioned to the right tunnel where it stretched into darkness. "These other two lead towards the main diggings and the living quarters respectively."

"Just how large are these tunnels?"

Valie glanced at Kaius but she appeared to have difficulty gazing upon him for any period of time. "Honestly I'm not certain but it covers an area hundreds of metres wide. If I was to guess then there are at least kilometres of tunnels branching from the entrance but most have been abandoned."

"Kilometres?"

Conjuring another magelight as the first began stuttering she shrugged at Kaius. "The main tunnel here leads down to the main dig site where we have been uncovering the main curtain walls and it's at least five, maybe six hundred metres long. There are others branching off at intervals where we have made some minor discoveries but the main dig is our best hope at getting into the city."

Serana's eyes were glittering with amazement. "All these were dug by hand?"

"Not entirely." There was no mistaking Valie's amusement now. "That's where you all will come in. If you have experience with fire magicka then you can assist in carving the tunnels, enchantment will be useful in keeping the soul stones charged for illumination but being able to detect magicka will assist in guiding the tunnels. Almost everything the Dwemer have constructed have been imbued with powerful enchantments and we're hoping that the higher the concentration of magicka the greater the likelihood of finding something useful."

Valie may not have known the others well enough but she could see the trepidation on Sofia's face before she wiped it away with one of her signature smiles. Kaius and Serana both knew of her history and understood her sensitivity to magicka and it would soon become obvious to everyone else. It didn't bode well for her but this entire endeavour was going to be a discomforting experience.

"I guess I should show you all the living arrangements. You will be pleased to know that for the most part we all have our own private rooms. After the first winter it was obvious that everyone sleeping in a barracks just gave everyone more reasons to fight and argue. When the storms come, we will be stuck in here, so make yourselves as comfortable as you can."

Leading them into the living quarters they were all struck with how ordered and neat and overwhelming comfortable the ice tunnels had been made. It was a far cry from what they had been expecting with dilapidated lodgings and freezing, lice ridden beds. Despite being made from ice the tunnels were a few degrees above freezing and while still cold it was comfortable and allowed many to shed their thicker layers.

A dining room and kitchen area was set up in one massive section that allowed the dozens of workers, guards and other members of the excavation to eat at the same time and it appeared that every last detail had been planned out. No cooking fires were used, certainly none that were used wood, charcoal or other fuels that produced smoke. Instead as Valie explained, magicka was utilised to heat cooking pans, grills and stones and several of the ovens as such were enchanted with magical flames for cooking and heating. Even the tunnels were well ventilated by planning and design and once winter arrived and the storm trapped them within the glacier, the wind would assist in cycling the air through the hundreds of metres of tunnels.

Everything had been provided for the men and women of the excavation, from the cooking facilities to individual beds. While most appeared to have been made from dismantled crates or broken supports it still represented a huge expenditure on the part of Sulla. They soon learned that he indeed had personally funded the entire expedition from the labourers to the individual nails in the support frames propping up the frozen ceilings. They also quickly heard the numerous rumours and whispers from the men and mer of the excavation of how after eighteen months of fruitless searching had drained his personal finances and unless they discovered the entrance to the city or a trove of artefacts everyone would be leaving empty handed.

Such concerns were far from the minds of Kaius and his companions. They knew from Esbern's research and Kaius' confirmation from Septimus that the Elder Scroll was indeed buried in the dark depths of the Dwemer City. Deep in the city's laboratories or perhaps in its vaults was the very Scroll used by the ancient Nords to cast Alduin through time itself. Only that scroll could grant Kaius the ability to face the World Eater. To them, whether they were paid or not or even the success of the excavation was not their concern but it would certainly help if Sulla was successful in his own quest to crack Alftand open.

With only weeks before the 'world-storms' were expected to arrive, time was certainly not on their side. Neither Kaius or the three women with him were entirely comfortable being trapped under the ice for a couple of months while Serana's father continued plotting to blot out the sun and dragons roamed the land. They were all also increasingly edgy with their gifted knowledge of the true threat that Skyrim and Tamriel faced with the coming of the Falmer invasion. Viconia's statement of the four or five months before they could expect Falmer to begin being forced to the surface was weighing on their minds, especially how it appeared that they would be trapped underground for at least two of those months.

Dark shadows were gathering in their futures, and on the surface as the sun began setting fresh snowflakes began settling on the newly arrived wagons.


	3. Revelry

In the days since their arrival Kaius and the others had settled in for the coming months, and like the others had immediately been put to work. The encroaching 'world-storms' ensured that everyone had to be prepared but the excavation and digging continued nonetheless. Every man and mer with digging experience were hard at work carving their way through the frozen depths with picks and shovels and magical assistance from Valie, Kaius and Serana. Serana, while being utterly inexperienced with fire and flames had a natural instinct of ice and soon garnered a reputation of being able to glance at a frozen boulder and know exactly where to hit it to shatter it. As for Kaius, his ability with destruction magicka was somewhat limited and used more for precision carving and melting instead of Valie's ability to burrow a tunnel as tall as she was several metres at a time. His skills with restoration magicka was soon well regarded as despite the careful nature of the dig, accidents did happen and being able to set bones and speed along the healing process was exceptionally useful in the circumstances.

Sofia and Lydia found themselves shifted into other duties. With no magical talent to call upon Lydia, like the others hired for the martial talents were turned into labourers to assist in the shifting and hauling of blocks of ice and the occasional stones and earth that were uncovered. One of the secondary tunnels had purposely reached the frozen earth under the glacier and it took considerable manpower to haul the carts and carry the bags of earth to the main tunnels. Soil and dirt would be scattered across the icy floors to reduce the chance of slipping and skidding and smaller stones had been placed in the main thoroughfares to create paths through the ice. Between these, the soul gems used for light and the efficient organisation of the mining teams the excavation was proceeding extremely quickly.

All that was needed was to find a way into the city. Day by day several dozen metres of ice were tunnelled through, first melted by Valie's efforts and then dug into with more traditional methods as the ceilings were reinforced as they went. Collapses were only semi regular from the somewhat hasty process of using destruction magicka but it was proceeding much quicker than if they were digging through stone and rock.

For over sixteen hours of the day they all worked hard to expand the tunnel system along the strange stone walls that they had uncovered in the months previous. The Dwemer make of the stonework was obvious from the perfect geometry and almost seamless way they had placed the bricks together. The bands of the bronze-like metal set into portions of the stone in very specific places also provided easy identification, if not for the fact that the stones seemed stronger than steel and could break picks. Every few dozen metres of uncovered wall would have one or more of the miners swinging their picks and tools against it to test for weaknesses, but none had been found so far. The only true advantage was at these depths was that the floor was no longer made of ice but instead dirt and stones which proved that they had managed to dig down through a hundred and fifty metres of ice.

Just as hard as they worked, they also relaxed just as fiercely in the evenings. Each and every being were granted an allowance of alcohol every night as a way to get the newer members into the routine of rationing and while some, like Sofia found the amount paltry it worked wonders towards keeping morale high. The meals, while basic and enough to keep them alive were supplemented with various spices and other flavourings from the small number of Khajiit labourers.

It was strangely festive of the evenings, involving singing, telling of stories and tales and inevitably dancing and a few of those present challenging each other to various feats of strength or the like. The Khajiit _pahmars_ were by far the strongest, especially the _rhat_ brothers who put anyone smaller than a troll or snowbear to shame. Although with over fifty men and mer living under the ice there were enough to ensure that a hierarchy of strength formed quickly.

Some of the excavation had skill in musical instruments and it was a nightly occurrence that singing and music occurred during or shortly after the evening meals. The Khajiit had a couple of their number experienced with their cultural instruments. Initial jokes from some of the Nordic workers of how their music would sound like screeching cats fell silent as one of the cat-folk brought out a long-necked fiddle. Between the long haunting calls and the quick, precise sounds, the Khajiit fiddler was able to rival and even surpass many of the bards found throughout the province.

What was more disconcerting to many of the workers was the way that the other Khajiit joined in with their brother. Usually the butt of jokes and teasing, the difficultly of Khajiit speaking common with their distinctive accents were forgotten as they jointly sung songs from their homeland. It was a harsh but flowing language in comparison to Nordic or even Cyrodiilic but the Khajiits also didn't sing like the bards and minstrels found in every Nordic tavern and inn. They growled from their throats, purring and snarling in time with each other and rising and falling in time with the tune from the dual stringed fiddle.

"Do you have any idea what they are singing about?" Lydia asked between mouthfuls of food, looking between Kaius and Serana on the other side of the table.

Serana was tapping her fingers in time with the Khajiit as they thudded their paws into their knees or their own table as they growled in unison. "It's strangely beautiful." She said with a slight smile on her face.

"I'll take your word for it, but I think it would be easier if I could understand them."

"I never learned Ta'agra." Kaius added, his eyes watchful and studying the enormous beings on the far side of the dining hall. "There's words that seem familiar and I can understand one or two but otherwise I don't have a clue myself."

"Which ones can you understand?"

_"De di ahzirr se tak jer kefa goorra."_ Sung the fiddle playing Khajiit, his paws twitching as he gently sawed the instrument's bow across the strings.

In time with the beat of their own making, the others growled in their throats, some even having their eyes closed and obvious smiles on their faces as they chanted '_Rakizna!' _in perfect synchronisation.

"_Janto di ahzirr se keja jer suneja."_

"_Rakizna!_"

"I know '_Rakizna'_ well enough." Kaius said as they continued, listening but appearing not to be paying attention to the dozen Khajiit. "It means _victory_."

"How do you know that?"

"_Kele di ahzirr se keja an zrege."_

"_Rakizna!_"

His gaze lifted up from where he was idly tracing patterns on the wooden surface with a tiny piece of slowly melting ice. "During the Great War," he said just loud enough for Lydia to hear. "it was a battlecry of some of the Khajiit formations. You don't forget a sound like that."

Despite herself and her immunity to the cold, Serana shivered. "I suppose that this breed of cats would be their warriors?"

Again he nodded and his fingers danced across the table in search for another piece of ice. "They are the shock troops and as you can expect they were extremely effective. The Aldmeri Dominion consists of some of the greatest archers, mages, and with the Khajiit on their side they have all the muscle they need for a war."

"How did the Empire hold them off for so long?"

His hands stopped as though they had been froze to the table and he licked his teeth. "Determination."

Serana turned and looked at Kaius with interest. "Determination? Is that it?"

"Humans can be very determined. It's the one thing that we excel at and how humans have been able to forge not one, but three Empires."

"I've never been able to understand how the Empires were able to be made in the first place." Serana added, turning her full attention away from the chanting Khajiits as they continued their tribalistic chanting. "Every other race is greater than humans in at least one way. What is the saying… We are all masters of nothing?"

"Jack of all trades, master of none." Lydia corrected.

Nodding, Kaius' face creased in something that could have been described as a smile. "Correct. But we are master of something. We are masters of endurance."

"How so?"

He gestured to Lydia with a glance to Serana as he explained her question. "Take Lydia here. She is the greatest Housecarl of Whiterun Hold and she fought her way to receive that title. She is in the prime of her life, one of the fittest and strongest individuals you will ever meet without the aid of sorcery or daedric boons and yet she is a third of the weight of those Khajiit over there. Maybe a quarter of the weight if we use J'darr or his brother for an example."

"Don't you mean _Wuffles_?" Lydia said with such a deadpan expression that it was difficult to determine whether she was making one of the few jokes in her life.

Serana's face in comparison screwed into a snarl like grin. "Ugh, Sofia and her penchant for naming giant monsters is something I can never really get used to."

"Try travelling with her for as long as I have. She does grow on you though."

"So do leeches." With anyone else, Lydia's words would have been too softly spoken to be heard but the pair of vampires on the other side of the table heard her all too clearly.

For Kaius' part he simply chose to ignore the comment. "The fact still stands though. No matter how much we train and strive to be the equals of the other races, men will never be able to match mer and Beastfolk. Orcs and certain Khajiit will always be stronger, Bosmer will always be quicker and more agile and Bretons and Altmer will be far greater in magicka."

"So where does determination come into the picture?" Lydia growled.

"We never give up and we have far greater endurance than any other races. Men can and will fight through injuries that would put the likes of J'darr unconscious from pain, and we are capable of wearing down Orcs like Yag. They are stronger yes, but we can continue on for far longer."

His fingers had returned to the mindless swirling of the partially melted ice as it left streams of water across the wood like the trails of slugs. "During the Great War and countless other times, human soldiers have marched for three or even four days straight, sometimes without sleep or stopping to rest and managing to fight afterwards. Other times they have simply marched elvish forces to destruction or defeated Dominion formations in combat by simply fighting them to exhaustion before killing them all. During the battle of the Ring Ring, one of the Northern Legions started on the eastern flank and cut their way around the entirety of Lake Rumare until they ran out of Elves. By the end of the day most of the Dominion Forces had given up from the fact that they couldn't raise their swords anymore."

The piece of ice that he had been swirling finally melted under his finger and he wiped it on his forearm. "The Thalmor hate the fact that men simply do not give up and die. No matter what, while there is a single human left breathing on Nirn they know that they will have to fight for the supremacy that they oh-so-desire."

"Especially if that human is you, Kaius."

Whatever words he had on the tip of his tongue were silenced at Serana's words but he did manage a tiny smile before his gaze darkened once more. "Speaking of determination and endurance, do either of you two have any idea where Sofia has wandered off to this time?"

* * *

Like she had over the previous days since they had arrived, Sofia had gone exploring but not of the tunnels branching off throughout the ice. She was exploring the numerous storage rooms and larders in search of the alcohol supplies and cataloguing where and what had been stored. There was ale, lager, mead, wine and various other spirits that she was surprisingly unfamiliar with. By the smells and tastes they were some Khajiit brewed spirit. What was extremely surprising to her was that despite her best efforts in searching and the presence of a dozen of the furred beings she had yet to find a single bottle of skooma.

Not having a taste for such a drink, she wasn't overly concerned but instead managed to procure a handful of bottles of various wines and spirits from what she guessed was Sulla's personal supply. If the dates on the labels and the make of the glass bottles and sigils on the wax seals were anything to go by then they were easily some of the most expensive wines she had ever tasted. It didn't stop her from drinking the first bottle as easily as she breathed and smacking her lips appreciatively as she considered making a start on the second.

The sound of people talking from one of the many rooms made her stop in place, feeling the clammy chills of unease crawling up her spine from the tone and the fact that she was technically in an area that was out of bounds for the workers. There were three specific tunnels carved from the main corridor joining the living quarters and dining area together and of the three one was significantly shorter and only contained a handful of rooms. This was where Sulla, Umana, Endrast, and Valie resided and Sofia cursed her luck at being unable to get out quick enough with her loot before they returned from their dinners.

"The diggers have managed another forty metres today." Sofia heard Umana say as the two of them continued down the frozen hallway. "Endrast believes that the gatehouse isn't much further and we should come across it in a week or two."

"A week or two." Mockingly, Sulla's voice floated on the semi-still air of the passages and Sofia heard the snort of amusement as she ducked into one of the doorways. No wood had been used to divide any of the rooms from the enormous tunnel system but she ensured that the curtain hung across the carved doorframe was kept as still as possible as she hid in Yag's room. The pounding of her heart drowned out part of Sulla's reply but his tone was enough to reveal exactly how he was feeling.

"You need to relax sir, stressing is not going to help you."

"Relax? _Relax!?_ How in the name of the Eight am I to relax?" his voice rose to a haughty shriek before he quietened and waited for the echoes to die away. "Until we breach the city and start getting artefacts out of here, I am not going to relax. What if the Dragol's send someone here? Their deadline is only a month away!"

"In a month the storm will be here and no one, whether they be man, Orsimer or even Daedra will be able to reach us here. The storms will buy us enough time to find the city and make our way inside and then you will not have to worry about the debts."

There was a loud sigh and the audible creak of wood which left Sofia with the impression that one of the pair, most likely Sulla had sat in a chair. "I suppose you are right Umana. Before long we will be rich, and our names etched into the history books."

"Not long now sir." She replied, and there was another creak of wood and Sofia slowly pushed through the curtain in the room she had ducked into and began carefully making her way down the hall.

"Gods I hope not. We can't handle any other delays and we certainly can't waste any more time. Broken trinkets and oddities are not worth the effort to pry them from the ice, even with the additional manpower."

"Did I mention how Endrast believes the tertiary tunnel might uncover some of the upper levels? I know that the other tunnels he has directed have led to nothing but crushed buildings but we might strike lucky."

Slowly, step by step Sofia moved forward with her boots pressing lightly into the ice and scattered soil. For the most part it was soft and quiet to walk up but it wouldn't take any more than a shard of ice to break under her boots to alert Sulla and the captain of the mercenaries of her presence. Sofia certainly didn't want to be caught pilfering his supply of booze, especially how in the best-case scenario, it would ensure that he locked it up better.

"No… You didn't. after all these months I no longer believe in luck. How many ruined buildings does he have to dig up hmm? Perhaps his efforts would be better suited in the primary tunnel."

"In all respect sir, his guidance has retrieved the most relics to date. He reads Dwemeris quite well and he also believes that he is close to finding one of the city's Animonculory's."

"Until such time as he walks in here with something worth its weight in gold he can keep his theories and ideas to himself." Silence fell between them and Sofia paused in mid step, wary of making the slightest sound. "If he hasn't found anything in the next two days he and his team will be directed elsewhere."

"Very well sir. I'll let him know."

"Anything else to report?"

"No sir."

There was the faint scrape of wood on ice and Sofia could feel her blood hammering through her body and her heart beating against her chest as the crunch of ice reached her ears. She had only managed to make it halfway down the tunnel as Umana had been dismissed from her employer's presence and those handful of seconds left her mind racing along with her heart.

Umana pushed through the curtain and tried her best not to sigh from her conversation with Sulla and she ran a gloved hand through her hair to dislodge the ice crystals that had settled within it. The evening was still comparatively young and while her bed was tempting her with its proximity there were still duties she had to attend to. So focussed on her task she failed to notice movement at the far end of the tunnel as Sofia darted around the corner with her enchanted pack filled to the brim.

* * *

Silence had fallen throughout the excavation as one by one the men, mer and beastfolk retired for the night. The Soul Gems continued their silent vigil, the enchantments bleeding away their energy of the day and leaving the tunnels growing darker and darker with every minute that passed. Shadows were lengthening, growing and shifting in the flickering, glittering ice but not all of the shadows were ethereal.

The scratching, chittering and twitching was now prowling the tunnels in which they had made their lair. Tunnels and passages were their home and no creature of the surface world could truly be at home within the dark as these things were. They creaked and chattered, dragging their thin talons across the frozen surface of the floor despite their attempts to move quietly.

Almost like a singular mind the things shifted through the darkening tunnels in the realm that they ruled. Darkness was their nature and infused every fibre of their bodies and they dwelled in it as one. Whether it was the shadows of the underground or the night this was their land; their _kingdom,_ and they knew it instinctively well.

Other things had entered their realm; things that they had no words or true thoughts of their own to describe them with. They were not things that should exist or even belonged within the frozen, decayed and ancient home and therefore they _shouldn't_ remain. Clicking and chittering and scratching their claws across the ice they shifted as a single mass towards the largest concentrations of the _anomalies_.

Towards the heat… Towards the warmth…

_Towards the prey…_

* * *

So, other than the basics involving the Khajiit breeds and how the moons play a massive role in determining what each Khajiit is born as there really isn't much regarding their culture and society. I purposely chose to make the Alftand brothers _Pahmar-raht's_ to give some love to one of the breeds not really shown in game but I was then stuck with my future plans of dealing with them and the rest of the Khajiit in later stories. I needed something to help expand on the world of _Bloodtide Rising_ like I had with the other cultures (the Imperials being much more 'Roman-ised', the Nords being viking era Scandanavians, the Bretons being 12th century Anglo-French, etc)

Listening to my writing playlist gave me inspiration (as it does). The Khajiit are typically shown as untrustworthy, light fingered thieves who travel Tamriel primarily in trade caravans with a shaman-esqe, nomadic culture. So I took this to an extreme by basing the Khajiit of _Bloodtide Rising_ off the Mongols.

So their song, and lyrics as such are based/inspired off one particular band/song I listen to while writing. _"Wolf Totem" _by "_The Hu"_

(Rough) Translations taken from the Ta'agra project

_De di ahzirr se tak jer kefa goorra_ \- Ten of us will strike you like thunder

_Janto di ahzirr se keja jer suneja.-_ A hundred of us will break your hearts

_Kele di ahzirr se keja an zrege._ \- A thousand of us will destroy and burn

I have big plans regarding the Khajiit society and culture in future stories, and anyone who is familiar with Conn Iggulden's _Conquerer_ series will have a good idea of one of my many sources of inspiration when it comes to writing overall.

Also, for anyone who misses Sulla's subtle reference to who he owes money to, there was a particular _Dragol_ who Kaius has had a brief run-in with...

As always, I hope you all are enjoying this story so far and I'm loving the feedback and thoughts everyone has with my writing.


	4. Breach

The first sign that they were under attack was some of the labourers being woken with sharp talons slashing through their bedcovers. Shaken from sleep's embrace men and mer alike began screaming, especially as talons and razored claws slashed and cut furs, cloth and flesh. Trapped under their layers of furs and in their bedclothes, several were unable to twist or roll out of the way and instead shrieked and screamed as the piercing talons punched into them in a frenzy of movement.

Kaius and the others had claimed rooms close to the dining area but were not among the first to have been attacked. The questioning shouts and screams of agony woke everyone within the excavation and many dragged whatever weapons or tools that were at hand and rushed out only to be greeted by the tunnels filled with twitching horrors.

Insectoid and chittering, the creatures were the size of mastiffs and moved just as quickly with the scent of blood heavy in the air. There were over a dozen of them, including the few shredding their way through the curtains hanging in the bedroom doorways or scuttling out of them with blood dripping from their razored limbs and twitching mouthparts. Such creatures looked ungainly but didn't stop them from moving so quickly that they tackled one of the labourers off his feet within seconds of running out of his room.

"To arms! To arms!" Roared someone within the tunnels and no one was entirely sure who was shouting in the middle of the amplified chaos echoing in the tunnels. It was too chaotic, the tunnel turned into a churning mass of men and monsters grappling and writhing against each other and liquids flash freezing against the ice.

Someone was screeching like a gelded beast and with the bloodied claws of the creatures flooding in from the dining area it was very possible that he had been. Another of the miners fell as a pair of the things stabbed and clawed his legs until he folded over in agony and they dismembered him in fountains of gore.

Kaius was in the midst of the battle without conscious thought, his skyforge blade bouncing off the insects' carapaces before his fighting style shifted to accommodate. Slashing attacks seemed ineffective and either bounced or slid away with little to show but stabs and thrusts appeared highly effective. Several of the miners had armed themselves with the tools of their trade and the mining picks appeared exceptionally effective. Armoured carapaces were crushed under powerful blows and ichor spurted onto the floor to mix with the frozen blood and shit of those who had already fallen. There was no technique to the melee besides that of survival and several times some of the labourers and miners simply tackled one of the beetle-like monsters, pinning them to the ground and digging knives into any gaps in their natural armour that they could find.

The durability of the scuttling horrors was working to their advantage as was the confined nature of the tunnel. Many of the excavation were strangers to fights beyond the handful of tavern brawls and the unthinking ferocity of the beetle monsters drove them back. Only a handful stood their ground in tiny pockets of resistance and very quickly Kaius and his companions found themselves being driven back despite their efforts.

With as much warning as their sudden assault, a collection of roars shook icicles from the ceiling and drowned out the screams and shouts of wounded and panicking men and mer. The roars were almost a physical force in themselves, rocking through the tunnel and turning bowels to water despite their welcome source. Led by the gigantic pair of _pahmar-raht_ brothers J'darr and J'zhar, the collection of Khajiit labourers assaulted the mass of insectoids from the rear in a literal wall of bared fangs and furred hides.

While no one was fool to believe the Khajiit weak, the true strength of the _pahmar_ breed was shown as they met the bloodied talons of the beetles with unsheathed claws of their own. The _rhat_ brothers were especially impressive as their claws were longer than most daggers. Combined with their strength, they proved more than enough to rend the resilient hides of the insects.

One simply exploded as a Khajiit worked smashed it into the floor with a shovel that snapped the wooden handle like matchwood, and another was ripped away from the handful of terrified labourers as J'darr heaved back on a spindly leg. The insect had enough time to keen wordlessly for a brief second before the _pahmar-rhat_ disposed of it by whipping it against the floor until the crumpled remains fell apart. Another was plucked from the floor by a pair of paws larger than the shovels that some of the workers were wielding like spears, squirming and writhing in the grasp of the Khajiit holding it. With its legs and mandibles twitching in the air and seeking purchase on flesh it squealed loudly as J'zhar gripped and twisted, pulling it apart in a collection of spurting limbs and unnameable parts.

Within seconds of the ferocious arrival of the Khajiit the insects were crushed, and in more than one case literally as well as figuratively. One of the wounded things was twitching and clawing its way across the ice as it sought to flee right up until the point where one of the smaller _pahmar_'s crushed it into the ice with a taloned paw.

The tunnel was filled with the smells of the dead and dying, of split bellies and opened bowels and some of those who had remained untouched through the fight were hunched over vomiting. It was too powerful, too overwhelming and now that adrenaline had gripped tight it would be some time before it would truly let go.

There was another odour that was as pungent as it was strangely out of place. It was the smell of metal and oil like the heart of a forge rather than the bitter taste of copper from blood. It was the smell of grindstones and scraped swords and many of the darker liquids staining the floors and walls and dripping from ruined carcasses were not blood.

Ignoring the cries of wounded and the frightened sobs and hyperventilating of those succumbing to shock, Sofia stepped lightly through the mess towards the giant Khajiit standing knee deep in the dead creatures. Kaius was moving through the remains, using his sword to poke any that were more intact and potentially alive and Lydia was also nearby helping move some of the wounded. Of their group only Serana was absent now that the fighting was over but not from terror but to hide the subtle changes that had afflicted her in such moments of extremis.

"Are you okay Wuffles?"

Whining slightly and pawing at his face, J'darr looked down at Sofia who was barely half his height. There was a feral look in his eye as his more bestial instincts struggled for control despite the lack of enemies but it was fading quickly. "J'darr was scratched by a bug. J'darr hates bugs."

Nearby, Kaius stabbed down hard with his sword and the focus of his attentions twitched briefly with a handful of spasms as it died. "I'm not too fond of spiders myself, but at least these aren't frostbites."

Movement to Sofia's left caught her attention and she turned slightly to see one of the spider things come clicking and twitching its way out of one of the several ruined bedrooms. Like the others it too was of a similar size to a wardog and when it rose up onto its spindly legs it stood up to her waist. It was impossible to doubt the effectiveness of the talons that gleamed like shortswords and dripped with the blood of its victims. There was also no chance to truly react as it registered the presence of enemies, reared back and hurled itself right at her face.

Her own sword was in hand but she was far too slow to react to the proximity of the spider. All she could see was a mass of golden talons, twitching mouthparts and the steam billowing from the gaps throughout its armoured hide. It was a mass of armoured plates, whirling cogs and churning pistons and it was all too capable of tearing her apart.

"**_FUS!_**"

Abstractly, Sofia felt her nose splatter her mouth and the front of her bedclothes with blood from the impact of the _Thu'um_ but it hurt a lot less than being stabbed with metallic pincers. As effectively as being tackled out of the metal spider's path she was thrown into the mess of blood and oil covering the floor but out of the way of the jumping Animunculi.

With the wind knocked out of her she struggled to writhe and twist either away from the snapping and twitching claws of the metal spider or rise to her feet to fend it off. It landed in a scrabbling pile of legs and wickedly pointed limbs that jutted from its forged hide, rolling nimbly despite its awkward design and was moving quicker than what it appeared capable of. It was however too close to escape and too close to fight especially with being left winded and dazed from Kaius' shout.

The others surrounding her moved much quicker than she had thought possible, and an elemental fury of fur and claws struck the spider with a far greater force than Kaius' _Thu'um_. One second the spider was there, scurrying and moving to charge her again, and the next three hundred kilograms of enraged Khajiit hit it so hard that it exploded.

Oil sprayed in all directions as J'darr crushed it into the ice under a paw almost as large as the Dwemer construct and pieces were sent whizzing through the air. A misshapen cog the size of a fingernail bounced off Sofia's chest and a piston imbedded itself into the wall nearby and it was easier to describe the spider as _unrecognisable_ rather than _dead_.

The Khajiit growled so deeply that the floor shook and Sofia gasped as it also vibrated her diaphragm. "J'darr _really_ hates bugs."

"I think it's dead now." Carefully she lifted herself to her feet and tried her best to calm her nerves and stop the shakes that had consumed her. For the second time in several days she was left dangling on the edge of a panic attack despite the fuzzy warmth of the alcohol she had consumed earlier that evening.

Alerted to the sounds of fighting, every member of the excavation had rushed to the tunnel filled with death and destroyed Dwemer automatons. Even the leaders of the expedition appeared in various states of dress and some noticed how Sulla kept several others between himself and the scene of carnage filling the tunnel.

Despite all the death and destruction, there were several within the group who were looking upon Kaius with a mixture of amazement and fear. His instinctive reaction to use the _Thu'um_ to knock Sofia out of the path of the Dwemer spider had not been missed and it didn't take long at all before whispers and rumours of what he had done spread through all of the survivors.

With the wounded being treated, and the dead identified, Sulla and his subordinates had very quickly taken stock of the situation and began organising the dozens of workers. It especially didn't take long for Sulla to call over Kaius and some of the others who had proven themselves more capable than the others in the situation.

"You are keeping secrets it appears." Sulla stated flatly after a brief pause as though he tried and failed to recall Kaius' name.

"Only some." Kaius replied, standing covered in blood and oil before his employer. There was no doubting the difference in appearance between Kaius dressed in his travelling clothes and Sulla wearing a fur cloak as expensive as Kaius' sword.

"Are there any other secrets? Besides your ability to speak like a dragon? I certainly hope you aren't expecting to renegotiate the terms of your contract after such a feat."

"No sir." He shook his head to the faint amusement of the handful of others standing around them. The Khajiit labourers were there in their entirety and so were a majority of those hired as guards. The rest had remained in the tunnel seeing to the dead and wounded and beginning to shift bodies.

Sulla's eyes narrowed as he met Kaius' unwavering gaze. There was suspicion in his blue irises and mild annoyance at how Kaius refused to be cowered by his rank and authority but there was satisfaction in his proven capabilities.

Hurrying over to them, Umana's face was flushed with grim expectation and organising the survivors. "Sir. We have three dead and four wounded. Two of the wounded will be lucky if they survive the night."

"Acceptable losses it seems. It does beggar the question of where such things have come from."

An elderly Bosmer with streaks of silver in his hair was looking over a crudely drawn map of the tunnel systems and appeared deep in thought. "As far as I can tell we haven't breached any locations where Dwemer Spiders in such numbers could emerge from. They must have burrowed through the ice in one of our more recent digs."

With an annoyed grimace Sulla turned to the Bosmer, forgetting Kaius for the moment. "Again with the excuses Endrast. I'm quite annoyed with your theories and intuitions."

"Wherever they have come from, we need to find it and soon." Kaius interrupted, much to the annoyance of the Sulla, Umana and Endrast. "We should also sweep the tunnels and ensure that there aren't more Animunculi roaming about."

In an instant Sulla's temper reached its threshold and he practically snarled in Kaius' face. "Well then good sir, it appears as though you just volunteered for such an endeavour. You and some of the others can seek out where these things came from and ensure that we will not suffer through another attack while we sleep. Do I make myself clear?"

While expressionless, to those who knew him Kaius stiffened slightly but he didn't retaliate. He simply nodded to Sulla, thudding his fist into his chest and stalking off without further word or being granted permission to leave.

"That one is going to be a problem." Sulla muttered softly as Kaius stalked back towards the death strewn tunnel, drawing several of the other guards and some of the Khajiit like flotsam in a ship's wake.

Sofia stood alongside Lydia, watching him return to his room to prepare for the ordered patrol and couldn't help but feel a chill run up her spine. The last time she saw Kaius so uneasy was after he returned from Castle Volkihar and meeting Harkon. He really wasn't his usual self at the moment and it was enough to leave his companions concerned in more ways than one.

Despite the growing fears and the expectation of further attacks, there were only a handful of spiders wandering through the tunnels and Kaius and the patrols quickly tracked them from the source. Endrast's recent diggings now sported a brand new hole as wide as a grown man's shoulders in a wall and it was obvious that the automatons had managed to dig through the ice on their own accord. The other machines were dealt with quickly and the patrols didn't suffer the slightest scratch as a result but the deaths had left everyone on edge. There was no further sleep for most that night, and with the handful of exceptions such as Sofia and Lydia who had experienced worse than a handful of mechanical spiders in the night everyone began the day's tasks early.

The dead were carried to the surface and buried in a snowdrift in preparation for being returned for a proper burial and the wounded were treated as best as they could under Valie's attentions. Her skills were proving useful but she was extremely thankful for Kaius once he returned from clearing the tunnels as his own restoration magicka was almost as powerful as her own.

With Kaius and Valie busy attending to the last three wounded members of the expedition the primary dig site was temporarily placed on hold for the moment while the small burrow the Dwemer spiders had made was investigated. A large majority of the dig was present in the secondary tunnels, miners chipping away at the ice with their picks and a number of the hired guards fully armed and armoured and waiting a few short meters at their backs. Assisted by the physical strength of the Kahjiit who were also preparing themselves for battle, the ice was broken and carved into chunks and blocks and dragged down the tunnel out of the way. Most would be simply dumped out of the excavations entrance into the yawning crevice in the glacier, but some were set aside for later to construct barricades in various positions within the tunnels.

Sofia had found herself requested personally but the aging Wood Elf explorer responsible for this portion of the dig. Her knowledge of ancient kingdoms, ruins and history had reached Endrast's ears and he had made a point to introduce himself to her after the excitement of the night time assault had died away. In his mid-seventies, he was middle aged for an elf but his experiences had left him looking much old older with traces of silver appearing at his temples and in his goatee. Despite his appearance it was obvious that the potential of new discoveries filled his body with a undying energy of a much younger man, practically bouncing about the secondary site with a energy of a young teen on his birthday.

Hunching over a table placed against the cavern's wall, he was gazing lovingly over a handful of artefacts newly freed from the ice as though they were the greatest discoveries of the entire era. To Sofia they were little more than bent and twisted cogs and various other items she couldn't identify.

"Fourth century if I'm not mistaken, perhaps later but still remarkable examples of the Dwemer work." He lifted one of the pieces and with the tip of his quill he pointed to the various etchings and gave Sofia a curious glance. "You see the engravings? These are the maker's marks and show which of the Dwemer made this and the others responsible for piecing the relic together."

"Does it say what the relic was?" Sofia asked half-heartedly and tried not to sigh or roll her eyes at the elf. He had a passion for his work but all the pieces were scrap in her eyes.

A larger than normal chunk of ice snapped and shattered on the floor which left a handful of miners scrabbling backwards for a moment. Endrast paused just long enough to mutter curses regarding the "woeful quality of the hired help" before returning his attention to Sofia and the hunk of Dwemer metal in his hands.

"The markings don't, but there is enough here for me to extrapolate what it was. It's a piston for the upper arm of a Dwemer Sphere, or possibly even a tertiary piston for a Centurion!"

No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't see how the roughly cylindrical and horribly bent hunk of bronze like metal was a piston. "Centurion?"

"Oh yes, the epitome of the Dwemer automatons. The Centurions are tall, twice the height of a man and were walking siege weapons. A single Centurion was responsible for destroying the entire Mtharnaz expedition is 4E82 after they inadvertently woke it up."

"Have you ever seen one?"

For a moment she wasn't sure whether she was more concerned about the idea of a giant death machine after their experiences during the night or the gleam of anticipation in Endrast's eyes. "Intact and active? No. The only devices I have encountered have been broken and crushed relics, or the handful of disabled ones in Markarth. Calcelmo prefers to put them on pedestals to enhance his prestige rather than understand how they work. More's the pity."

He paused, carefully placing the ruined piston on the table and adding a few notes to his increasingly thick notebook. "It was also a pity that your friend and the Khajiit weren't able to secure an intact specimen last night but I hope our luck holds."

Sofia opened her mouth to voice her honest opinion that they couldn't have broken the damnable things quick enough for her liking when one of the labourers rushed over from the ever-enlarging tunnel. "Sir, we are almost at the end".

"Excellent. Is everyone ready?"

Endrast's excitement was not contagious among the workers or the guards after seeing the horrendous injuries their number had sustained during the attack. One of the victims of the spiders had to be scooped up and placed in sacks after they had appeared to have been disassembled with inhuman, clinical efficiency. The labourer instead simply nodded, fingering the metal banded club attached to his belt in his unease.

There was no denying that Endrast was excited as he moved into the tunnel that had been expanded from the spider's burrowing. It was large enough for four men, or two of the Khajiit labourers to stand abreast and some of the guards had already taken up position. The ice wall at the far end was noticeably thin around the metre-wide burrow and the light from the soul gems illuminated stonework covered with a thin layer of ice just beyond.

At Endrast's nod, a pair of miners shared a glance of trepidation and began swinging their picks into the ice separating them and the stone lined expanse beyond. For several minutes they chipped and scraped away, cutting with some ease through the ice as one of the Khajiit handed the larger chunks to the chain of labourers leading back down the tunnel. It didn't take long at all for the miners to hack out a large enough hole to look through into the void beyond but it took longer for them to chisel and jam support beams into the sides to reduce any potential cave ins.

Impatiently, Endrast fidgeted and spent the entire time hopping from foot to foot with his eyes gleaming in anticipation. Despite this he still waited, watching with expectation as a small group of guards stepped through with shields locked together did he and Sofia follow.

Failing entirely to contain his victorious laugh, Endrast surveyed the interior of the Dwemer structure in absolute glee. To Sofia it looked like a half-crushed ruin filled with debris but there was no doubting that it was impressive. Pipes and unidentifiable machinery clicked and pulsed, the sound of ticking like a damaged clock making itself heard from within the piles of broken stones and twisted metal. Over hundreds of years the glacier had steadily increased pressure on the walls and roof of the room until it had begun to burst and split. One of the walls was tumbled ruin despite the vaunted nature of Dwemer stonework, and hollow in the wall that was faintly identifiable as a set of stairs was filled with shattered stone and ice. The stairs especially drew the attention but unfortunately it was clear that they led upwards to a higher level entirely destroyed by thousands of tonnes of ice.

To their left was an enormous set of doors made from the same bronze like metal of the Dwemer, decorated in geometrically perfect shapes and eight metres tall. The entire room was strangely expansive compared to the mildly claustrophobic nature of the hand carved tunnels they resided in, but it was the rest of the room that was of real interest.

Enormous stone slabs stretched out in regular intervals like the beds of an enormous field hospital and while they were almost entirely empty a prone figure was laid out on one. It was taller than every member of the excavation and even outweighed the _pahmar-rhat_ brothers by a considerable margin. Barrel chested and broad, the giant metallic figure was also in a considerable state of disassembly and missing a large majority of its limbs and torso.

"Julianos be praised, it's an _Animunculory_."

With one eye on the lookout for scuttling horrors, Sofia kept the other on Endrast as he performed his best impression of an excitable toddler. "An animu-what?"

"An Animunculory. It's a combination of a forge, workshop and laboratory. The Dwemer used to use places such as this to construct and maintain their automatrons."

"Doesn't look like much."

"To our eyes it doesn't but who knows what miraculous creations they gave birth to in places such as this? This is a rare find and we should count ourselves lucky to have stumbled across it."

Flicking one of the numerous metallic arms hanging limply above one of the stone slabs, Sofia made herself jump as they spasmed for a moment before falling lifeless once more. There were dozens hanging above each of the slabs and she could see handles and grips on the metal above the various tools attached at the ends. They uncomfortably made her think of torture implements despite their designed intention for maintenance and repair.

"These things aren't going to wake up, are they?"

Endrast looked up from where he was hunched down over the opened chest cavity of the metal giant at one of the increasingly nervous guards. "No. I wouldn't think so. These are either broken or require manual input to utilise."

There was almost a collective sigh of relief, especially how one of the labourers moved over and revealed that the giant's head was separated from its enormous torso. It was carved into a permanent scowl of disapproval but there was no humanity within its visage. Each line and detail of its face was formed from hard lines and sharp angles and the neck was as thick as a man's torso.

"Where did the spiders come from then?"

While Endrast may have been distracted at the discovery, everyone else was more focussed on the recent memories of death and slaughter in the night, Sofia included.

"I would expect that there is some kind of access in here. Those doors over there are a good contender but they haven't been moved for a long time."

"What makes you say that?" Sofia asked with considerable suspicion.

For an answer, Endrast vaguely gestured at the floor in front of the doors and the enormous hinges holding them up. "The floor is covered with ice and the doors open inwards. If they had opened recently, they would have scraped the ice away."

Both the floors and the ceiling in front of the doors were playing host to deep circular grooves where the runners on the top and bottom of the doors would glide when opening and closing. Sofia and the others could immediately see that Endrast was right, as the grooves and the polished stone was entirely covered with ice that was several centimetres thick. Many of them could also see that there were jagged scratches in the ice making an obvious path from their newly carved tunnel, and through an open doorway much closer in height to normal beings.

Without needing to be told, the handful of guards locked shields and cautiously moved through the doorway in pairs, taking each step across the fresh tracks carefully and watching each other's backs. Despite her better judgement, Sofia followed as well but only when she saw the familiar figures of J'darr lurking in the tunnel entrance and Lydia stepping into the Animunculory in her full armour.

The doorway connected to a room directly adjacent to the larger workshop, but other than the smaller scale of the tools and stone slabs they perfectly mirrored each other in design. Unlike the first of the Animunculory's with a dozen stone 'beds' arrayed along each wall, this room had easily twice the number and were the right size for humanoids. There was however more of the lifeless figures scattered about in various states of disrepair and assembly and Sofia was feeling more and more nervous in such a place.

All the legends surrounding the disappearance of the Dwemer had focussed on how they as an entire race had instantaneously vanished and these workshops seemed to support the theory. Tools and items were discarded as though dropped in place but there was no sign of fighting, of panic or even the slightest hint that anything had been amiss. She looked over one of the slabs where a thin, skeletal frame of gears, pistons, cogs and bars sat alone and unfinished. One of the arms was only partially attached to the shoulder, the complicated workings bared for all to see and there were a handful of screws, rivets and other assorted metal bits placed neatly and in easy reach. The fact that she somehow knew that thousands of years before a Dwemer had been diligently building this automaton when they vanished left her feeling distinctly unwell. One minute they were alive, the next they were utterly removed from existence without the slightest trace.

"Sir Mirahorn, we require your assistance." Called out one of the guards as they continued moving into the room, and after a few moments Endrast appeared, wiping oil onto the front of his furs from his rummaging in the lifeless automaton.

"What is it?"

One of the guards gestured to a series of circular openings lining the wall furthest from the doorway and the obvious scratching in the ice and permafrost covering the stone floor. The trails appeared at the base of the openings and grouped together to lead out the doorway but it was obvious that the spiders had appeared from them.

"Ah. Should have expected as such." He stated flatly. "These pipes typically run throughout every Dwemer city or structure and the spiders use them to travel without getting in the way."

"Wonderful." Judging by the expressions of everyone else in the room, Sofia wasn't the only one who was suddenly concerned with the fact that six of the pipes were in the walls, their hatch covers closed and silently waiting.

Endrast had already been distracted by the collection of smaller automatrons within the room and moved about, muttering to himself the whole time. After watching him with building annoyance, Sofia finally rolled her eyes, moving over and slapping her hands down as loud as she could on the stone slab where he was studying one of the mechanical artefacts.

"Well Endrast? What do we do about these pipes?"

Shocked out of his train of thought, Endrast jumped and looked about as though he was only just remembering she and the others were still there. "Um, sorry? What were you asking about?"

"The pipes? You know? The ones that spat out a horde of bloody spiders and killed a few people?"

Looking between her and the hatches in question, he stroked his goatee for a few moments. "I mean we could seal them, but honestly that might only encourage more of them to come."

"How do you mean?"

Leaning away from the slab he was hunched over he sighed a very particular sigh that Sofia was very familiar with. It was one her old teachers at the College of Winterhold directed at her on an extremely regular basis. "Dwemer spiders for the most part are the workers of Dwemer Cities. Think of them as worker bees, or ants or that matter. They clean, repair and maintain the best they can and dispose of rubbish. On the occasions that they attack intruders it is because they have been aggravated or disturbed."

"So, we disturbed them somehow?" Queried one of the labourers cautiously looking over one of the ruined automatrons.

"I believe so. Have a close look around us. Can you see how all the rubble has been piled neatly in both of these rooms and that the ice has been cut back in places? They were maintaining these Animunculories to the best of their abilities and our recent diggings must have gained their attentions."

"Will more come?"

He shrugged while continuing to stroke his goatee. "I doubt it. If more were to come, we would've seen them already. There may be the odd one or two but as long as we don't disturb the nest, we will be able to plunder the honey so-to-speak."

"And if we disturb them?"

Glancing over to Sofia, he lifted up one of the humanoid machine's arms on the table to reveal a regular sized crossbow merged into the armature of the automaton. After her experience with Sorine Jurand and the Dawnguard's crossbows, she could see the strange repeater style magazine and a series of steam operated pistons used to load and fire it quicker than any mortal could manage.

"If we disturb them," Endrast said with his tone growing as cold as the glacier. "The soldier bees will be unhappy and we will have to contend with the likes of these Sphere's. If we are exceptionally unlucky, we will see a Centurion like the one back there and I can guarantee you it won't be in pieces."

The seriousness of his words left everyone listening to them shivering with more than just cold, but as quickly as his mood had darkened, he returned to the lively, energetic scholar he had been only minutes before. "Unless I'm mistaken, we have been more successful than I could've hoped."

With the half-finished sphere ignored for the moment, he rose to his feet and looked over the walls. The left-hand wall was conspicuously absent several stone slabs in the direct centre despite the lack of ornamentation. Thin strips of Dwemer metal covered the joins between each of the frozen blocks used in the construction but Sofia felt even more wary when she realised that there was a set of parallel seams three metres apart running from floor to ceiling.

Endrast looked over the seams with an ever-increasing smile, his eyes alight with expectation as he carefully picked his way to the wall. There was a lever; simple and yet obviously Dwemer made sticking out of the wall and he grasped it and forced it down for the first time in over three thousand years.

If not for the ice cracking and breaking as the doors swung outwards, they would have opened without the slightest noise. Instead they shifted through their own runners, turning the ice and frost into powder and crushing it into water in their path. Within seconds and despite the waves of fear from everyone else in the room there was no mistaking the utter look of triumph on his face at the sight beyond.

A corridor stretched several dozen metres from the Animunculory and ended abruptly at another set of doors facing the same way as those that just opened. The passage was short but it was obvious that it led away from the dig site which meant that it led into the city itself. Unfortunately the passage was blocked off with a set of metal bars as thick as Sofia's arm and appearing similar in design to a castle portcullis if not for their obviously Dwemer make. As well as the bars blocking the path, it was also filled with a considerable amount of steam from a broken pipe. This ensured that the passage was not only hot, but filled with ankle deep water that steadily drained through grates set into the floor near both sets of doors.

"Ladies and gentlemen… It appears that we have found a way into the city." Endrast announced triumphantly even as his eyebrows furrowed at the fact that levers identical to the one he just used were located on the far side of the Dwemer portcullis. "Just as soon as we find a way to open it."


	5. Storm

Standing as still as a statue with the unforgiving nature of bronze and steel, Kaius could feel the shifting air currents of the tunnel network coursing over his face. Surprisingly he had found that living within tunnels carved from the ice was a lot warmer than he was expecting but it was still quite a stretch from what he would call '_comfortable_'. It was '_liveable_' at least and that was all that truly mattered.

He knew that there was not many of the others that could sense the magicka and strangeness of the Dwemer structures that he was standing within. They were enchanted, but they were uniquely enchanted in such a way that was impossible to discern or describe. Serana, Sofia Valie and himself could easily tell that there was something entirely unnatural about the stones and metal all around them but none of them were capable of describing exactly how it felt. It was akin to inventing a new colour, or being able to taste the rising sun but he knew that if he asked that they would all agree on the fact that whatever or however the Dwemer had built their cities and constructs it was _wrong_.

No more spiders had come as yet and he wasn't sure whether he was disturbed or relieved. The Animunculory had remained silent and as now a permanent post for a dozen of the guards at all times but he was not there in his capacity as sellsword. The word and fact that he was able to speak in the tongue of dragons had spread through the members of the excavation as quickly as it had been expected and now after two days of fruitless attempts to breach the barred tunnel into the city, he had been _requested_ to make an attempt himself.

At first, they had tried hammers and axes to hack through the metal bars but even with Orchish and Khajiit labourers several hours of battering hadn't resulted in as much as a scratch on the bronze-like bars. Steel chains wound over torsion bars and pulled upon by the entire combined might of all the Khajiit had resulted in nothing more than sending dozens of broken steel links flying through the air as the chains snapped. After muscle and engineering had failed Sulla had ordered those familiar with magicka to try but so far it seemed just as pointless.

Valie's spells and several minutes of concentrated flame magicka did nothing but reduce the amount of oxygen within the Animunculory and various magical blasts were about as effective as the sledgehammers had earlier. Now it was Kaius' turn but he only took his place in front of the barred tunnel and its broken pipes churning with steam and he was struggling not to feel the dozens of expectant eyes watching his every move.

Despite what they all thought, using the _Thu'um_ wasn't as easy as he made it out to be. Certain words, phrases and sentences came to him with ease but others required intense concentration to think of, yet alone project into a shout. He had heard the rumours and stories from the various taverns and travellers of how the _dovahkiin_ could only learn new words with each dragon soul he consumed. Those very rumours provided a source of bitter amusement as the truth was a lot more complicated.

As far as he could tell he knew, or otherwise _contained_ the knowledge of every possible word and syllable of Dovahzul, but he could only use those that he _understood_. Paarthurnax had taught him ways to seek out the meaning of words through meditation and self-reflection but many were out of his grasp. Some, such as what Arngeir described as the '_Unrelenting Force_' and '_Whirlwind Sprint_' shouts came as naturally as breathing but others were not as simple.

Churning through his mind and soul he felt out the words and their meanings, shifting through the fragments of emotions and half remembered images and sensations. He felt the pain and the agony and the death throes of not one, but three separate dragons he had consumed in various ways and dragged the unwilling meaning from the depths of his mind.

He breathed in as hard as he could, tasting the spice of the Dwemer metal and the mustiness of ancient masonry as the first word billowed within him. _Yol_ was a breath as much as it was a shout and he inhaled it where it met and joined its companions. For that moment that they joined within his chest, within his very soul he felt all the pain of the burns and the caress of death before he expelled them from his body with terrible force.

The _Tor Shul_ churned the air and he wasn't breathing fire but instead turning the air into fire itself. It rippled and flowed like a living thing, flickering out with tendrils of burning energies capable of searing flesh into powder and steel into vapour. The temperature within the tunnel rose exponentially despite the power of the _Thu'um_ forcing it away from him but for those few seconds he felt as though he was trapped in a furnace.

As quickly as it had been unleashed, the shout died and so too did the elemental fury of the flames. Dragon's breath was by far one of his least subtle abilities but it still left Kaius feeling the twitching, writhing scar tissue up his body and knew that under his armour and clothing stigmata would be highly visible.

What wasn't visible was any difference in the metal bars a few short paces in front of him. Unlike the portcullis of Fort Dawnguard there was no glowing red hues to the metal, the ticking of cooling steel or even the slightest hint that dragonfire had done anything to the Dwemer metal.

The air was heavy with steam as the water from the broken pipes had been boiled away and joined the rest of the steam in the cramped corridor. The tunnel had also been entirely cleansed of three thousand years' worth of dust, grime and frost and the stones and metal banding gleamed with moisture as though they had been polished.

"Your abilities seem rather lacking master Desin." Sulla called out from the band of spectators but despite his words there was a tremor of uncertainly infecting his voice. It was a rare kind of individual who could witness dragonfire and not feel an unnatural terror eating into their soul.

"There's nothing wrong with my abilities Sir." Kaius' own tone was bitter and tinged with annoyance as he moved towards the bars. A single gesture pointed out the various scraps of metal and molten blobs at his feet as he stepped over and around them. "As you can see dragonfire is capable of melting many things, but this portcullis is something else entirely."

The other spectators; a collection of guards, labourers, miners and Sulla's supervisors were deathly quiet at how Kaius' shout had reduced some of the items into liquid. Before Kaius used the thu'um and to judge the composition of the material that the bars were made from they had placed a collection of random artefacts, tools and other objects in front. Some of the items, such as the handful of Dwemer plates and utensils and everyday items had been melted down, and others such as a crushed arm of a Dwemer Sphere appeared to have been made out of wax. A steel prying bar and a pickaxe had been left entirely as molten liquid cooling onto the stones but the bars themselves were untouched.

Ignoring the flutter of unease at the powers he had unleashed and its effects on the various items, Kaius moved right over to the bars and tentatively held his hand over them for a few moments. There was no sense of residual heat emanating from them and after a second or two he firmly grasped one of the bars.

"There's no change in temperature at all." He announced, gripping a couple more of the bars in quick succession and showing that despite the dragonfire being hot enough to melt steel in seconds the Dwemer portcullis remained impervious.

A handful of muted exclamations and various muttered oaths could be picked out amongst the wave of disappointment and handful of wagers being collected. Sulla sat in stony silence in the midst of them all, looking at Kaius very carefully and casting glances of such intensity that the metal might combust with his annoyance alone.

"No other tricks within your supernatural repertoire?" He said with some disdain at Kaius as he returned to his position, deep in thought.

"I don't know many shouts, and those that I do aren't of any use in this situation. _Unrelenting Force_ could collapse portions of the tunnels without anything to show for it and it's the only other one that I could use to try to force entry."

"It's a pity you can't turns yourself into a ghost or the like and walk through the bars."

Providing his own glance of mild annoyance at the wealthy Imperial, Kaius shrugged and pointed to the cloud of steam reforming in the tunnel once more. "Even if I could, the issue wouldn't be passing through the bars but surviving the steam. It has to be in the hundreds of degrees and I wouldn't survive in there for long."

His annoyance growing more and more visible, Sulla twisted and shot a different withering stare at the elderly Bosmer watching Kaius with growing interest. "What do you say Endrast? Is there going to be another way in?"

"It is quite possible. This is not a major entrance into the city or through the defences. This Animunculory isn't meant to be accessible from outside the city walls and if not for the glacier we would have never discovered it. We can try to force our way through the other doors but in the meantime, I suggest we continue seeking one of the city's gates."

The silence was deafening despite the clicking of cogs and gears and the hissing of steam from the broken pipes, and Sulla continued staring at the bars as though they would open through sheer willpower alone. No one dared to move or to say anything in Sulla's presence, until a pair of the labourers appeared from the Centurion Animunculory with considerable urgency.

"Sir, the supply train has arrived."

Eyes as cold and as blue as the glacier itself forced the two labourers to hesitate and step back as Sulla turned his attentions to them. "And? What's the problem?"

"A storm is on the horizon."

The temperature within the glacier was only a few degrees about freezing but at that moment it was though it dropped even further. Nervousness and unease gripped tight and mutterings and hushed whispers spread quickly before Umana noisily cleared her throat and turned to her employer.

"Your orders sir?"

It was almost as though he had not heard anything that had been said after Kaius' failure to breach the city with the _Thu'um_, and Umana was about to speak again when he nodded. "Very well. Everyone to the surface and commence unloading. This is not the _world-storm_ but those supplies need to be brought into the excavation."

With clear directions, the spectators fragmented and began filing out of the Animunculory. Only a handful of guards remained behind to continue their vigil for more spiders but Kaius lingered, staring into the bars leading into the city.

The excavation became a hive of activity, especially when more and more people made their way to the surface to assist with the supply caravan. This was the largest and last of the wagon trains before the winter storms and three dozen wagons were lined up on top of the glacier piled high with crates. Just like the rest of the excavation's organisation, everything had been planned down to the last detail and a significant amount of the supplies were long lasting or exceptionally suited for storage in sub zero conditions. Some of the larders built within the ice had been placed closer to the entrance to use winter's fury to assist in storing the supplies but the wagons' contents needed to be unloaded first.

Clouds had already blotted out the sky and a chill wind was making itself felt as every man, mer and beastfolk available rushed to the surface. The wagon drivers were already removing the ropes keeping the supplies tied down and within minutes dozens of pairs of hands were lifting up crates and shuffling through the fresh snow. Overnight there had been enough fresh snowfall to build snowbanks over knee height and while there were paths carved through them, it still slowed down the passage of the dozens of workers struggling to move tonnes of supplies by hand.

Every minute that passed visibly increased the power and strength of the winds and snow was beginning to fall in waves. Men and mer alike were forced to hunch down over the crates in their hands, rugging themselves under additional layers of furs and scarves in an attempt to fend off the decreasing temperatures. Eyes were filled with tears that streamed and froze, cheeks and foreheads and any unprotected skin was chapped and burnt from the cold.

Visibility was also dropping as quickly as the temperatures and the majestic vista of glacier fields and the far off Sea of Ghosts was torn away and replaced with murderous thunderheads and swirling blackness of heavy clouds. Like howling spectres, the winds plucked at every loose article of clothing and buffeted the trudging workers carrying and dragging their heavy cargoes to safety.

Kaius and the others were on the surface, despite their own personal protests they kept to themselves. The supplies were important and the dozens of workers and labourers were driving themselves on as the dark clouds grew ever closer. Three times had Kaius dragged his feet through the snow, feeling the blinding flakes slapping him in the face like a barrage of needles as he hauled some of the crates. The enormous shadows of the Khajiits would stride through the thickening snow as though it was as much as a hinderance as fog, carrying two or three times as much as the other labourers in arms as thick as his waist. He caught glimpses of Sofia helping with some of the other loads despite the fact that she was very much one of the smaller members of the excavation but somewhere in the deepening gloom was Lydia and Serana.

There was no time to think about the others or to think much further beyond gathering the next crate. Most of the crates were thirty or forty kilograms each and it was hard, slow going through the cold and wind. His own bitterness was almost as forceful as the chilly tendrils seeping through his clothing and armour, proving that however cold it was now, it promised worse on the horizon.

Carefully walking down the wooden bridge staked into the side of the glacier, it was all too obvious just how powerful the storm was becoming by the way it was shuddering. Each gust of wind sent subtle vibrations through the planks and left the ropes and cables humming like the plucked strings of the Khajiit fiddle and it was so long that it was beginning to subtly roll in time with the blasting wind.

Catching sight of a lithe figure amidst the queue of men and mer, Kaius could no longer ignore the screaming of his instincts and practically dropped the crate he was carrying within the mouth of the dig site. Snow was whipping into the caverns now and it was taking all of his willpower to run and find his companions.

"Sofia! Where is Lydia and Serana?"

Slowly and carefully making her way sideways down the vibrating bridge, Sofia was mostly hidden behind her concealing scarf and hood but there was more than enough in her eyes to see the building concern.

"Lydia is on guard within the dig, and Serana is up top assisting."

The labourer being assisted by Sofia carrying the crate looked between the two of them and at the dark cloud growing closer by the second. He too was looking worried and his fears were not put to rest by the expression on Kaius' face.

"When you get into the tunnels, do not come back out for anything!" Kaius shouted over the building wind and creaking of the bridge as it shifted and swung like a ship.

"What? Why? What's happen-"

"Just do it!" the snap in his voice was enough to quieten her questions and the handful of others nearby heard the tone in his voice and redoubled their efforts to carry supplies down into the dig. Sofia stared out from her furs and cloth and saw the deadly seriousness on his face and obeyed without further complaint.

Staggering his way up the bridge past the line of groaning, cursing labourers carrying their heavy loads, he ignoring his own building panic as it fed off the emotion of those around him. Especially those knowledgeable of the north were growing agitated at the increasing power of the storm which didn't bode well for anyone. The sense of urgency was building in parallel with the storm but Kaius was concerned for his comrades.

Feeling the growing vibrations through the soles of his feet, Kaius took one last look at the yawning hole in the ice leading into the dig and the storm and turned and began to run. The whole bridge was shifting in the wind despite the ropes but he managed to move past the line of increasingly nervous people to the top of the glacier.

"Serana!"

There was no answer and despite his words and her vampiric senses he wasn't sure if anyone would be able to hear him over the building howl of the storm. Snow was being whipped around and he was dragging his feet through the drifts in an effort to get around the lines of men and mer and visibility was dropping so quickly that he was struggling to see the wooden huts or the wagons loaded with goods.

"Serana!"

Hidden behind their layers of furs and clothing, ice was beginning to form and snow setting onto the heads and shoulders of everyone exposed and there was now no doubt that the temperature was dropping rapidly. Every breath, even through the scarf wrapped tightly over his face was like dragging in a mouthful of ice shards and his breath was freezing the fabric solid. His instincts could no longer be ignored and after a moment of stopping in place with dawning realisation he turned to the nearest labourers with their arms laden with supplies.

"Get to into the dig! Go now!"

Even with a few metres between them and lack of identifying features there was uncertainty and Kaius had to shout over the wind to be heard at such a short distance. The two labourers, whether they were male, female, human or mer was impossible to discern but their hesitation earned them both a slap over a shoulder and a gesture towards the bridge.

"Get the fuck into the dig site now! Everyone needs to get out of the storm!"

They hesitated and he practically knocked the chest out of their hands, leaving one to openly gape at the spilled contents as the lid broke. It got the message through to them though and with an unseemly haste they left the broken chest where it had fallen and began moving towards the bridge. Kaius continued along the line, turning back those coming to shift more of the supplies and directing everyone within sight and hearing to drop everything and flee. In ones and twos, they began shifting as a minor tide of humanity, heads and shoulders hunched into the wind but soon a majority of them were moving.

Again he called out for Serana, roaring into the wind as though his normal voice was capable of beating the blizzard into submission. It was becoming increasingly difficult to remain calm as a storm was not something that he could face or deal with and he knew on an instinctive level that his shouts would be ineffective. He did not have the full understanding of the meaning of the _Clear Skies_ shout for it to work against such elemental fury, and even if he did, the shout wouldn't last long enough to make a difference.

Only after a dozen repeated calls of his vampiric companion's name did there come some form of response. Most of the workers were moving as quickly as they could and the obvious shift in priorities had made it obvious to the rest. Some of the braver or more oblivious of them were continuing to try to haul and drag the crates but just as many were moving towards the huts.

Serana appeared as though conjured, moving through the ice and snow with an ease that no one else could match but the dark expression on her face mirrored the encroaching darkness. For the first time since they had met she was filled with a conviction that needed no words as she rushed towards and then past Kaius, gripping him by the arm and practically dragging him along.

Taking the hint, Kaius followed her as she moved with her own type of haste towards the bridge that was no longer vibrating but was instead beginning to buck like a wounded animal. Those workers who had found themselves on it gripped the support ropes and the safety lines and shuffled forwards as best they could but a handful of them had instead turned back, seeking the perceived safety of the huts and the more solid footing of the glacier surface.

As the surge of workers moved into the mouth of the tunnels with an increasing number of them lacking any form of crates or supplies it had drawn the attention of Yag and the other present supervisors. Stuck within the tunnel mouth and within the hollow of the glacier that granted a safe haven from the increasing winds, they and Sulla especially couldn't see the way that the storm's power was increasing. All they saw as the bridge creaking and shifting slightly in the wind and their hired employees fleeing down as quick as their legs could carry them.

"What do you all think you are doing?" Sulla shouted at the huddling mass moving past him. "Get back up there! Who told you all to stop?"

With snow streaming off his shoulders and ice forming over portions of his outer layers, Kaius tried not to sigh with relief at feeling his boots under solid ice as he ripped his scarf away. "I did. The storm is almost upon us."

The fury in Sulla's expression and eyes was unmistakeable and he bared his teeth at Kaius as though he considered sinking them into the other man's throat. "Oh? Really? With just what authority do you think you have to make such a call? Hmm?"

"The authority to save people's lives." Snarled Kaius and Yag and Umana shifted forward as he squared off against their mutual employer. His body language had turned from nervous to dangerous and not a single person witnessing it failed to notice.

"That is not your call to make master Desin." Leaning from side to side, Sulla made the show of looking at the bridge where it turned around the corner of the glacier and out of view. The driving snow was visible but it looked less intense from where they stood than on the surface, as was the way that the bridge was moving with the wind. "Looks to me that there is still plenty of time to retrieve the supplies before the main portion arrives."

With curt gestures he directed Yag towards the increasing numbers of workers making their way off the bridge and she began bellowing and waving her arms at them to direct them back up the glacier. Many were looking between the storm the tunnels, and others were looking at Kaius for direction instead which only served to infuriate Sulla and his subordinates even further.

"I'm not paying you all to laze about and shy away from a little wind!" Sulla roared, finally losing his temper. "Get your fucking arses up that gods-damned bridge and get the gods-damned supplies."

"No one move!" The fury in Kaius' eyes was obvious but he didn't shy away from Sulla's incomprehension and rage.

All movement from the workers ground to a halt, and other than the odd one or two shifting deeper into the tunnels the rest were stuck in the tunnel's mouth where the wooden boards led off over the crevice. This flaunting of his authority was the very last straw and Sulla's hands clenched into fists, moving forward a pace to strike Kaius before regaining control over himself.

"Umana." He said, his voice as cold as the outside temperatures despite the twitching of the muscles under his eye. "I want this man removed-"

Sulla's words were cut off as there was a noise that echoed over the mournful howling of the wind and Kaius and his companions were uncomfortably reminded of a dragon snapping its jaws closed. For those still on it the sudden fear was obvious as the bridge began wobbling and twisting from more than just the wind.

Realisation was instant for most and in a panicked rush those still standing on the wooden boards surged forward but there were others further away from the tunnel entrance. All thoughts and arguments only seconds before were washed away with the surging terror and adrenaline and those with their feet on solid ice began shouting for the others to run as fast as they could.

More and more ropes began fraying and snapping as the storm grasped hold of the bridge and ripped it back and forth like a mastiff savaging a rat. With every broken support and rope the bridge moved even more, throwing itself about like the death throes of a dying animal and knocking more than one worker off their feet. A shiver ran through its entire length as portions twisted and snapped, the wood splintering from the forces wrenching it about until it could take no more and almost disintegrated.

Only a few who were too far away didn't reach the safety of the tunnel in time as the bridge ripped itself free from the glacier's grip and hurled them and itself to destruction a hundred metres below. One of the workers was picked up and bodily smashed into the cliff face and left a streak of crimson against the blue-green ice before vanishing from sight below. Another two dropped away into nothingness as the bridge shredded itself from the forces arrayed against it and the last that Sulla, Kaius, Sofia and Serana saw was the terrified expressions of the damned as they plunged to their depths in the crevice.

As quickly as it had begun the destruction was complete, and those within the tunnel mouth could only look with astonishment as the bridge had disappeared as though it had never existed.

* * *

Raflvaar Sohrarsen didn't consider himself to be an overly pious man, nor a man taken to wild flights of fancy. He had served as a mercenary for the better part of two decades, fighting, hunting and guarding various men and mer and there was very little that he considered outside of his realm of experience. The Dwemer Spiders of the previous days were unusual but they were less dangerous or flesh-crawlingly unnerving as the Frostbites that he had slain over the years. They were hunks of metal and gears; nothing more, and broke easily when struck in the right place.

Although there was something about this excavation that ensured the hairs were raised on the back of his neck. He had spent far too long in the wilds hunting and being hunted by the likes of sabrecats not to be familiar with such a feeling. Without evidence to back up his instincts there was nothing that he could use to explain his sense of concern and trepidation but it didn't stop him from fingering the head of his fighting axe attached to his belt. The tunnels themselves didn't overly concern him despite the claustrophobic nature but there was no denying that they felt off.

Continuing on with his business in the latrine tunnel, he could hear the echoes from the rest of the workers at the entrance and that was something that never failed to amuse him. Sounds travelled through the tunnels with unnatural qualities and sometimes it was as though you had to shout to be heard by someone less than two metres away, whereas whispers could, and did reverberate hundreds of metres from the strange acoustics. It would take him ten or fifteen minutes to move from where he stood near the Animunculory dig to reach the branching tunnels near the entrance but he swore that if he could concentrate or if his hearing wasn't so ruined from years of fighting in a helmet he could listen to the conversations.

It wasn't just the ever-present ringing in his ears that was stopping him from eavesdropping on the goings on at the excavation entrance. There was also a scratching that he had been listening too on and off for the past days whenever he on guard at the Animunculory. It came and went like the breeze, sometimes it was loud and ever present, other times whispering on the very edges of his senses. To anyone else it would have been maddening but he had been in such situations before. One time he assisted Mages from the College of Winterhold in the ruins of Saarthal and he would never truly forget the strange hissing and twitch-like sounds that echoed through that particular dig site. Saarthal was just as cold as Alftand but at least Alftand didn't have to worry about skeevers.

That thought thundered into his mind as he stood near the wall, half fumbling with his pants to relive himself and somehow the scratching he had been hearing was louder than before. In Saarthal there was scratching almost like that within Alftand, but unlike those ancient Nordic ruins there was no trace of vermin in the ice. Once again, the noxious sensation crawled up his spine as he could hear the scratching getting louder in the tunnel and with a slow, steady movement one of his gloved hands moved away from himself to come to rest on his axe. There was undoubtably something in the tunnel with him; his instincts were telling him that much but he was yet to meet anything that couldn't stand the bite of his axe.

Whistling to himself, one of the other guards walked down the tunnel towards the one set aside as a latrine and sighed loudly as the sight reached his eyes. He understood all too well that between the cold and the need to wear thick gloves it was difficult to aim but the others could at least make the attempt. Mumbling curses while fumbling with his own pants and layers of clothing, he stepped over the frozen puddle in the centre of the floor and continued on for a short distance, completely oblivious to the drag marks leading further into the excavation's depths.


	6. Trapped

Sitting on his imported mahogany chair, Sulla cast a glance around his personal quarters and the individuals within in. To say that there was a charged tension in the air would be a gross understatement, especially after the events of the previous hours but with the stereotypically Cyrodillian attitude he was squaring his shoulders for what was to come.

"Is anyone going to tell me how bad it is?" he said after the silence threatened to continue into the early hours of the evening and he could feel his irritation building.

Yag and Umana shared a glance to see which of them would be the one to speak and in the end Umana relented. "It's exactly as bad as we all feared."

"We don't have enough food in other words." Endrast replied, looking entirely unconcerned at the weight of such a simple statement.

"We undertook a count of everythin' we have in the larders and the bits we managed to get from the surface. Looks like we're in for a lean time." As usual, Yag's voice was guttural and almost deep enough to be considered masculine if not for her race. "Includin' ourselves the total number of people who got into the dig stands at forty-five. At least a dozen is trapped on the surface, dependin' on how many fell with the bridge."

"Then their priority will be in constructing a new bridge as soon as the storm subsides."

Yag shook her head in a movement that was mirrored by Valie and Umana. "That ain't happenin' boss. Unless we have a bloody miracle then this is the world-storm and it's gonna be here for good. Temperature is already droppin' at the tunnel mouth and even daedra ain't going to be able to work in such conditions. The only way we're getting' out of here is diggin', which I wouldn't recommend until the weather begins to clear."

"We're stuck for the foreseeable future," Sulla's gaze turned to his guard commander and Umana leaned back in her chair in a facsimile of a relaxed attitude as she spoke. "One way or another we will have to implement a rationing system if we are to survive the winter, and we have to implement it _now_. I have already tasked the two most trustworthy of my guards to set a watch over the primary larder and the labourers are moving every scrap of food we have there as we speak."

That simple fact seemed to chill the blood as effectively as the plunging temperatures outside and for those handful who had experienced the previous winter in the dig, they realised the predicament instantly. The previous winter they only had thirty members in the dig and every single one of the tunnelled-out storerooms had been filled before the storm arrived. Between the fact that they had more mouths to feed this time, with less food available and how the storm had arrived three weeks early didn't bode well for any of them.

Sulla leaned forward, pressing his elbows onto the table and clasping his hands together. "Suggestions?"

"From this point onwards, we eat nothing but soup. It's not going to help anyone's moods but it will extend the stocks considerably and keep us healthy enough to outlast the storm. Our alcohol supplies will also assist in the soups but I'm worried about word of how little food we have spreading through the workers."

"They already know that we are short, just not by how much." Valie flushed as the group turned to look at her. "It's no secret that a large number of the crates and supplies were left on the wagons."

"No thanks to that Dragon speaking bastard." The edge in Sulla's voice was unmistakable and his glare was almost enough to combust wood. "Umana, I want you to keep an eye on master Desin. He has a rebellious streak that I am not amused by and I will not brook any threats to this expedition. Storm or no storm, we _will_ succeed in this endeavour and I will not allow any more displays of insubordination. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes sir." For a moment Umana paused, pressing her tongue into a cheek in thought. "I will ensure that he knows his place, but we can't deny that his actions did save a lot of the workers."

"At the price of robbing us of most of our food stocks and potentially killing us all in the long term."

None of them had had a reply and Sulla tried hard not to smile as a result. Over the previous days Kaius was proving to be a considerable thorn in his side but he would not allow the scarred mercenary to get in the way of his success. His own potential fate at the hands of the Dragol Clan was more than enough motivation to ensure that he would bury Kaius under the ice if required.

"What do we do in the meantime?" Yag asked this time, leaning back in her own seat with her legs crossed.

"We keep digging of course. No point wasting valuable time or energies when Alftand awaits. Endrast, how confident are you in breaching the city through the Animunculory?"

The aged explorer sighed and gestured with empty hands. "Not very. Those bars are impervious to anything that we have at our disposal and I don't believe those large doors will lead us anywhere of value either. I will help in seeking out the main gates but I do have a request of my own to make."

A flicker of amusement crossed Sulla's features over the deepening scowl. "Oh? And what will that be?"

Totally ignoring his employer's tone, Endrast continued on unabated. "I intend on moving my lodgings into the Animunculory to continue my studies. The disassembled Centurion is a veritable trove of esoteric knowledge awaiting discovery."

"Anything with a physical worth?"

Endrast chuckled. "Don't worry my friend, I have already put aside the best trinkets for your own personal collection. Moving into the Animunculory will assist me in cataloguing the new artefacts though."

"Very well, you have my permission but ensure that the guards remain in there with you. I don't want you falling afoul of an Animunculi before we breach the city." Turning, he gave each of his direct subordinates a calculating glance. "Yag, organise the miners into shifts. The primary focus is finding a way into the city but I want you to provide however many Valie is going to need."

"Need for what sir?" the High Elf mage stammered in surprise.

"I want you to dig a tunnel to the surface. If we can reach the surface, we may be able to retrieve some of the supplies we left behind."

"Isn't that going to be too dangerous?" Umana asked, her voice carefully neutral and eye narrowing at the sudden change of track from her employer. "Or are we going to attempt a rescue?"

"If this is truly the world storm, how long do you believe they will survive up there, with or without the huts?"

Despite the glowing crystals illuminating the room, darkness crept into their visons at the fate of those left on the surface. After a while Endrast cleared his throat, licking his lips with sudden nervousness. "The mercury gauges I left near the entrance completely froze over two hours ago. I set them up thirty metres from the mouth which means that outside the temperature will be much, much lower. This doesn't take into account the wind either."

"Then they are dead." Sulla said without hesitation. "We all know how cold it was last time which is something we need to prepare for as well. We are insulated here but many of the new arrivals will not have experienced this before. Let's not lie to ourselves; there will be deaths and we will lose people but we will not fail here. Look after those under you and ensure that discipline in maintained but I will not brook anything that will threaten our chances. Make that known to all."

The handful of excavation leaders nodded as one and Sulla looked impressed for a moment, reaching down and retrieving a bottle from its straw filled crate. The Surilie family of vineyards still produced excellent wine and it was a taste of his home province, away from all this cold and flea-infested Nords. As he decanted it gently into a glass he listened to the others as they began talking amongst themselves and wondered if he had been drinking as much as he thought. There had been nights where the only way he could fall asleep was with a glass in hand to wash away the stress but surely he hadn't been drinking _that_ much.

Outside in the corridor, Sofia stood with a bottle of similar vintage but instead of carefully sipping and enjoying the expensive wine, she was knocking it back as she listened to them all talk. Despite her slowly increasing inebriation she was as silent as a shadow, leaning against the ice as she took advantage of Sulla's private stock. With their conversation drawing to a close she resisted the urge to burp, and instead turned and quietly walked down the tunnel in search of Kaius and her other companions.

The sense of despondency was heavy in the tunnels and there as no revelry that evening. Conversations were muted and stilted especially when any of the topics drifted towards the situation they were in or the people that were no longer sitting by their friends sides. Besides Kaius, Sofia and their other companions, almost everyone within the excavation had lost someone they knew on the surface or during the bridge's collapse. The Khajiit appeared to be especially hard hit due to the fact that two of their number had been outside when the bridge was destroyed. While there was none of their singing this evening, there was still a combined rumble from the remainder as they grieved in their own way, growling a lament in the tongue of their homeland that sounded positively _predatory._

She might have been overhearing Sulla and the others discussing the exact nature of their plight but none of the others had any illusions to the seriousness of the situation. They knew that the situation was bad, that they were trapped in a glacier in the middle of the worst winter storms in the world with little supplies but at that moment they were too lost in their own grief to think of anything at all.

Of Sofia's companions it was easy to find Lydia and Serana. Lydia was continuing on as stoically as ever as she practiced with her axe and shield and for one of the very few times Sofia envied her. She was never truly certain whether Lydia was simple minded or just unnaturally disciplined but whatever the reason she was taking their entombment much better than the rest of them. In fact, the only time that she had shown much emotion at all was when she first discovered that Kaius was a vampire when they met Serana. Every other time she had as much reaction as a rock, even when faced with situations such as battling the dragon Sahloknir at Kynesgrove or defeating the vampires of Morthal. Nothing seemed capable of affecting her for any length of time.

Serana was a different situation and Sofia felt more of a kinship with the ancient vampiric princess. She may appear outgoing and confident, ever ready with a sarcastic quip or precise insight but there was a fractured psyche underneath it all. The broken shards of the young woman who had been turned into a vampire by her parents still lingered underneath the cold conviction and self-assurance of the vampire and Sofia could sympathise in more ways than one. She of all people knew betrayal as intimately as a lover and still bore the scars as a result. While she was unsure how well Serana was holding up or feeling about the situation after briefly popped her head through the curtain into the vampiress' room, she knew that she would need to keep an eye on her in the days to come.

Kaius however proved more elusive to find than her other companions and armed with the knowledge of his rough whereabouts from Serana she moved int the tunnel network stretching through the ice. The last that Serana had seen him was shortly after dinner where he had vanished down the main tunnel with his pack on his back and hood over his face. He had been acting strangely for a couple of weeks now but it had truly reached new heights of strangeness since the bridge collapse.

Briefly asking one of the guards making their way through the main tunnel, she received further directions of her other vampiric companion. Kaius had been moving deeper into the tunnels, but despite this he wasn't moving towards the main dig site or even the Animunculory but instead into the disused, abandoned tunnels filled with cave ins and crevices.

The guard that she had spoken too had said that Kaius had taken the right-hand tunnel in the main intersection almost a full hour previously but Sofia continued on, retrieving her 'acquired' bottle and taking drinks now that she was away from prying eyes. She wasn't familiar with the vintage or the makers, seeing the cursive Cyrodillic writing on the label and knowing that it was worth far more than the way she was drinking it like water. It certainly helped pass the time as she slowly moved through the ice past the fading or long dead soul stones in the walls and helped dull the mild ache when she was forced to cast a magelight to see where she was going.

Like the rest of the tunnels, the nature of the ice and their very make within the glacier did strange things with sounds. People nearby could sound as though they were very far away, and whispers travelled hundreds of meters. Initially she though that the off-key singing was the usual trick of the tunnels from those few either guarding the Animunculory or back in the living quarters, but it was growing noticeably louder with every step.

"_-hills and far away…_" she heard the voice echo from the tunnel mouth ahead and she continued, taking another mouth and trying hard to listen over the crunch of ice.

_ "He swears he will return one day…"_

Within the darkened tunnel, the voice echoed hauntingly around her despite the fact that the owner was being quiet in his own way. It would take a lot more than weird tunnels carved from the ice not to recognise Kaius' voice but she was feeling strange at listening to song he was singing to himself.

"_Far from the mountains and the seas…_" A silhouette sitting with its back to the wall continued despite her approach with the gleaming magelight. "_Back in her arms he swears he'll be…_"

"Having fun Kaius?"

His eyes were mostly hidden in shadow but she could feel the way that they looked up to her from his position on the roughly hewn floor. "As much as I can be."

The bitterness in his tone was obvious, and Sofia stopped in place as she saw one of his gloved hands lift a bottle from where it rested in the ice beside him and put it to his lips. "Is that brandy any good?" She asked, moving closer and leaning against the wall opposite him.

Knuckling his mouth on the back of a hand, Kaius shrugged and looked away from her and the bottle. "It's passable."

Rolling her eyes at him she slid down the wall and ignored the tiny waterfall of powdered ice that coated her shoulders and hood. The temperature was still low enough that every breath puffed into existence in front of their faces but it wasn't deadly or overly uncomfortable.

"I was just listening in to Sulla and his cronies." She said simply after a few moments of silence. "I hope you like soup."

Kaius didn't respond beyond taking another mouthful of the potent brandy but his expression didn't waver for a second.

"Anyway. They are still looking for a way into the city but if this storm keeps up, we're going to have issues. Food is going to be the biggest issue of them all but I'm more concerned about my alcohol supply."

Again, Kaius sat in silence without the slightest twitch to show that he was listening to her and she sighed loudly, flicking some of the powdered ice in his direction in annoyance. "Hey, you listening?"

"Yeah."

"You don't look or sound like it." Sniffing the cold air and casting a fresh magelight as the first began to fade, she squinted at the sight of the collection of bottles sitting on the ice around him and the fact that his pack had several noticeable lumps in it. "How long have you been drinking for?"

"Not long enough."

The slurred nature of his speech, while mostly unnoticeable to anyone else set off all the alarms in Sofia's mind and she took closer note at how several of the bottles were completely empty. There was a mixture of mead, brandy, ale and other powerful spirits including one set aside for lighting cooking fires and Kaius had drunk them all. For a normal being they would have been left unconscious with alcohol poisoning but Kaius' vampiric nature made it inconsequential.

"O…Kay… What's going on."

"Nothin'."

"Bullshit Kaius. I've been travelling with you for a while now and I have never seen you drink this much. Come to mention it, I haven't seen you act like this either."

"Act like what?"

The tone showed that he knew exactly what she was talking about but was trying to ignore it. "Like… this." Sofia replied, making a show of gesturing to all of him. "You're usually so confident, and sharp witted and everything."

"People are allowed to feel down you know."

Her frown was partially a smirk even as matched his mouthful with one of her own. "Yeah, they are. Normally it doesn't happen this quickly, so something is up."

The shadows in his eyes were different now. With the magelight hovering at the wall near her shoulder she could see the shift in his features and while vampires scared her there was something almost calming with Kaius' strain of the curse. She had seen it enough and had been with him enough that she somehow knew that she didn't have to fear him.

"I couldn't save them." He said, almost too softly for anyone but himself to hear.

"The others on the bridge?"

There was a tiny nod before he took another shuddering gulp. "I have spent my entire life holding myself back afraid of what I could do if I gave in, but today if I had given in and did what my instincts were telling me then I could've saved them all."

"Judging by what I heard before it wouldn't have made much difference in the long run. We're a little short on food and saving everyone would've made things worse in that regard."

Slowly and carefully, he cleared his throat and spat off into the shadows. "And that's also a problem."

"What? The fact that we're possibly going to starve to death?"

"No. That you're all going to die."

The chill of the tunnel seemed to drop several degrees and Sofia fell silent, watching as Kaius finished off his bottle of brandy with several mouthfuls before tossing the bottle away.

"Glad to see you are as optimistic for our chances here…" She began, before trailing off as a memory of a night in Fort Dawnguard entered her mind. "Oh."

Kaius was busy fumbling with his pack and pulled a new bottle out and Sofia tried not to grin at the fact that she wasn't the only one who had pilfered Sulla's personal collection.

"Is that the problem is it? That we're all going to die, but you won't because you're a vampire?"

"It's more complicated than that," He hissed. "but yes."

"So tell me."

"Why should I?"

"Gods damn it Kaius, stop being stubborn and tell me what the problem is! I told you how I felt about you so I think you owe me one."

This time she thought that she may have spoken too much as he fell silent and glared, but just as she though he was going to continue drinking he spat into the darkness instead.

"I have been doing this sort of thing for a long time Sofia."

"Adventuring? I know. You have told me this before."

The look he gave her conveyed _'shut up'_ without needing words and she snapped her mouth closed.

"I mean _this_." He said with a gesture around the tunnel. "Getting into hopeless situations with the fate of the world on the line. We might be trapped here but the truth is that as always, _everything_ is riding on whether we can force our way through a Dwemer city, retrieve an Elder Scroll and survive. Starvation and a fucking blizzard are nothing in comparison."

Ticking off his fingers, he was practically growling his words now. "In my life I have played a part in stopping the Oblivion Crisis, defeated a reincarnated Ayleid bent on severing the Nine's influence on Nirn, overthrown a power mad goddess, ushered in the Mede Dynasty, helped end the Great War, stopped a power mad Altmer from sacrificing every man, woman and child in the Imperial city and for what? To be once again left as the only fucking person in this, gods damned existence capable of stopping vampires from destroying the sun, the firstborn son of Akatosh from consuming reality and a horde of cannibalistic abominations from _literally_ eating everyone on the surface!"

"Well… I don't think that anyone will say that you don't have a lot on your plate."

"Of course I have a lot on my fucking plate! I'm the only fucking being in all of existence it seems who has any form of responsibility or who has been chosen to do anything for these past two centuries! No one seems capable, let alone willing to do anything about any of this! Why can't someone else be fated to deal with Alduin? Why can't Ulfric or Arngeir or hells, _Queen Elisif_ be the Dragonborn? Why must I constantly be cursed with having to save this fucking existence from every damn thing that seeks to destroy it?"

"Kaius," Sofia said softly while trying not to feel some anxiousness at the way that Kaius' flesh had pulled taut and his face had begun to lengthen. "you are the strongest and most capable person that I have ever met by a huge margin. You are also one of the most selfless people I have ever heard of, let alone met. Sometimes I wonder whether I have somehow stepped into the pages of a book of legends from some of the things that we have done."

"Yeah. I can guarantee you that I'm in some of those sorts of books." Another mouthful of firey liquid vanished into his stomach and he growled like one of the Khajiits. "Never named though. I have discovered that whoever save the world are never remembered beyond some minor footnotes in a dusty tome."

"Is this your problem? That you aren't remembered? That you aren't _famous_?"

Sofia jumped as he smashed the bottle against the ice and growled even more deeper than before. With a combination of inebriation and building anger his fangs were now clearly visible but they weren't being bared at her directly at least.

"I don't want fame."

"Then what do you want?"

"I want my fucking family!" the words hissed out between his teeth and fangs. "Why should I continue doing all this? My children are dead and the woman I love despises me! I have nothing else besides my misguided devotion to duty left! I don't want to save the world only to have to go through and do the same fucking thing ten or twenty years from now!"

"You have nothing? What am I then?" her own bottle stabbed in his direction and despite herself Sofia felt her own anger rise. "Is that how much you think of me? Of Lydia and Serana?"

Despite the alcohol turning his brain fuzzy and sluggish, Kaius still realised he had gone too far and his mouth fell open. Sofia saw the way that he was about to speak an apology but her own drunkenness had taken hold. "You know what? Fuck you. Why do you think that we follow you, for some kind of misguided ideals or because we have nothing better to do? I know your life isn't a meadow filled with mead and honey but gods-be-damned Kaius we're all the same. I came down here looking for you because you are the only person I consider to be my friend and if this is how little you think of me then fine, go to Oblivion for all I care."

Staggering to her feet, Kaius was too shocked to react even if the alcohol didn't slow his reaction speed. "Oh, and another thing Kaius. Sitting in a dark hole drinking away your troubles doesn't work. I though that after all the time we've been together you would've noticed that much about me at least. Perhaps we were all wrong."

His mouth closed shut as she leaned down, twisting her half-finished bottle of wine into the ice in front of him, gesturing to it as she turned to leave. "If you want to get yourself drunk than feel free. If not, then your 'friends' are going to need you in the near future."

Staggering and using the walls for support, she stomped her way back down the tunnel towards the living quarters without a backwards glance. She wasn't sure what hurt more; Kaius' expression as she left or the fact that he didn't call out to her to come back. As she continued her drunken walk towards the lit tunnels, she tried in vain to convince herself that the distant roar and accompanying rumble through the glacier was the echoes of the storm.

* * *

Stretching himself over the back of the chair, Endrast felt his spine pleasantly crunch in several places as it straightened from hours of hunching over. His research had been progressing well over the previous fortnight even despite the delays and issues since the bridge collapse. The continued digging had failed so far to uncover any further relics or the elusive gates into the city but it had provided him with time of the evenings to study those which he had already acquired.

The Centurion was incredible and offered months of intense study, if not longer but since the storm's arrival he had the great fortune of getting in hands on a mostly intact spider after it appeared from the pipes. The fact that the guards hadn't pounded it into scrap metal was something he had shown them with a bottle of his own alcohol ration and had provided him with even more detailed research to undertake.

His journals and notebooks were filled with scribbles and writing, technical diagrams and sketches that represented decades of research and 'dungeon-delving'. From the deserts of Hammerfell to the lava flows of Vvardenfell he had travelled and seen much but Alftand was where his own legacy would be carved into stone. Let Calcelmo have his trinkets and decades of rifling through a plundered city, _he_ was going to have access to one without having felt the touch of man.

The hour was drawing late but the Animunculory seemed to have its own lighting that remained a pleasant level no matter the time of day. It wasn't too bright to provide him troubles with sleeping and it was just bright enough that it didn't strain his eyes while he wrote in his books. The mystery of the crystals in the walls providing the light was one that he had yet failed to crack as they, like the rest of the Dwemer structures were impervious to damage and resisted his attempts to pry them out of the stone. Whatever the sorcery that kept them lit and filled with energies hadn't failed for the past four thousand years and he doubted they would suddenly fail in the coming days or weeks.

It was as he finished his stretch that movement in the corner of his eye caught his attention and he twisted in its direction. His room as such consisted of a portion of the Sphere Animunculory where he had turned one of the maintenance slabs into a bed and another into a desk containing his private effects. It gave him a clear view of the entire room and the steam filled corridor without getting in the way of the guards in the next room.

Something in the depths of the mist shifted as though it could sense his eyes upon it and he carefully stood up from his chair. There was undoubtably something in the far end of the corridor where it turned a corner beyond the second set of the doors but it was too far and too hidden in the steam to make out. All Endrast could do was watch with wonder and excitement at the sight of an active Automaton as it twisted in place, shifting in the shadows and moving out of sight.

_This truly is a place of wonders_. He thought to himself as he was left smiling at the thoughts of what marvellous discoveries he would uncover once they entered the city itself. Even the mild gnawing pangs of hunger in his belly was nothing in comparison to the butterflies that took their place. Months of eating nothing but watery soup was a small price to pay for usurping Calcelmo's title from him.

It was these thoughts and similar ones of the glories that would be heaped upon him that filled Endrast's being with a warmth unmatched by a comfortable fire or the finest of wines. Despite keeping a closer watch upon the barred corridor, he was not gifted with further sight of the humanoid figure or others of its kind and retired for bed shortly after.

With ice crunching under their boots, a trio of guards moved into the Animunculory to relive their fellows. It was only when they realised that they were alone in the Dwemer ruins that the first tingle of unease crawled up their spines. The sensation would only grow worse and leave them drawing their weapons in preparation as they realised that the guards they had come to retrieve were missing. There were no overt signs of disturbance besides a single wooden chair having been knocked over and a collection of scuff marks on the thin layer of ice over the Dwemer floor, but a quick glance into the adjoining room showed that Endrast too was missing.

His bedding was slept in but other than the fact that the covers were thrown aside there was nothing amiss. Research notes and his collection of books and artefacts were exactly where he had left them, and the bars blocking off the tunnel were still closed and unyielding as ever.


	7. Tensions

The dining hall, while not as filled as it had been three weeks before and before the storm had struck was still wall to wall with bodies. Labourer, miner, guard and supervisor alike they were all congregated into the chiselled-out expanse in the ice, feeling the pseudo-warmth of the enchanted stoves through their layers of furs. In the past two weeks as the storm continued raging on the surface, its chill had slowly spread deeper and deeper into the tunnels. It froze anything it touched, including the pure spirits used for cleaning wounds and the mercury temperature gauges that Endrast had situated throughout the excavation. There was no way to move within fifty metres of the entrance even when fully covered in furs and assisted with magicka.

But the concerns of the encroaching cold from the entrance and the gradually decreasing temperatures throughout the dig were momentarily forgotten from the recent disappearances. Endrast and the guards vanishing during the night had sent a ripple of fear through the remaining members of the excavation but there was also an undercurrent of anger.

Sulla especially was not appearing fearful but instead was gripped in a rage that threatened to boil out like an overfilled kettle and he made no illusions to exactly how he felt. He had been the one who had ordered everyone to congregate in the dining hall and now he stood out front, his fur gloves creaking as his hands balled into fists.

"I will ask again." He said, directing his voice over the group and spearing them all with his gaze. "Who among you know of Endrast and the other traitors' whereabouts?"

The silence was as heavy as the ice hanging over their heads and he could taste the emotions on the air. Fear, anger and confusion was rife among the men, mer and beastfolk before him and he smiled in triumph. There were some of those in front of him who knew exactly what had happened and he would get to the bottom of the mystery, and certainly wouldn't be cut out of the profits and having his name etched into the history books but a conniving, weaselly Bosmer.

"Well? Must I reduce rations further before someone speaks the truth? The treacherous bastard Mirahorn and his co-conspirators have managed to enter the city and deny us all a measure of the spoils and yet some of you are holding onto your misguided loyalties."

They thought they were all so smart, so clever and that their plots and schemes were invisible but he could see them, and see them well. Groups were forming and while most didn't have connections between each other there was enough to see the rivalries and the shadows in their hearts.

Sulla could feel the corner of his mouth and cheek twitch as one of the labourers pushed forward from his group and provide a modicum of a bow in his direction. "Sir, the Woodelf hasn't entered the city. No one has!"

"Oh? Then, where is he? What happened to our renowned explorer?"

The same labourer scowled but it wasn't directed to Sulla and his supervisors hovering at his back but instead to one of the other noticeable congregations of men and mer. "He's been eaten, by the bloody cats!"

The surviving nine Khajiit workers were obvious where ever they stood and they made up another group within the room. Until the accusation was voiced, they seemed perfectly content with remaining towards the back. As soon as the labourer's accusation reached their ears their body language became filled with aggression, fangs revealed as lips peeled back and ears pressed down close to furred skulls.

"Smoothskin lies!" One of them roared, surging forward with all the force of a leaping sabrecat before being grabbed by some of his fellows. "Khajiit do not eat the dead!"

"How do you know that he's dead?" Shouted one of the guards standing near another huddle of individuals that included Kaius and his companions and suddenly the entire hall was filled with jostling, shouting people and the throaty growl-roars of Khajiit. For several moments Sulla tried desperately to shout over the noise that shook ice from the ceiling and threatened to crack the tunnels before a new wall of sound punched them all in the stomach.

"**_DREM!_**"

This particular shout ripped through the mass and left them all feeling the word deep in their souls. As quickly as snuffing out a candle the aggression and anger had been stilled, leaving them all looking about each other with confusion and unease.

"Endrast and the others haven't found a way into the city." The source of the word of power said, stepping forward with his own scowl on his face that mirrored Sulla's at Kaius' appearance. "But I certainly believe that they are dead."

"Really master Desin?" Dripping with irony and sarcasm, Sulla's words were almost potent enough to melt holes in the ice as they dribbled from his chin. "What great flash of insight can a mere mercenary offer us?"

Dragging the battered length of metal from where it had been clasped by his side, he tossed it at Sulla's feet to allowed everyone the chance to look at it. If not for the bronze like metal and the strange collections of pistons and gears it would have appeared to be a human arm. Instead it was alien and metallic and somehow disconcerting in appearance.

"I and some of the others encountered the owner of that in the eastern tunnels. It and the other two that we have destroyed emerged from the pipes in the Animunculory during the night and now it is obvious that the City knows we are here."

"The city?" Sulla's voice rose in time with his annoyance at Kaius' presence. "The_ CITY?!_ The city is a dead thing of stone and metal, not a living being! To suggest otherwise is foolishness at best, heresy at worst!"

"Dwemer cities are not like the cities of men and mer." If Sulla's voice was filled with venom, there was no doubting the bitter steel in Kaius'. "Their cities are never truly dead, otherwise we wouldn't be coming across things like _this_…"

The metallic clank as he toed the ruined arm was not lost on anyone and there was a nervous shuffling of all those close enough to see it.

"So… You are saying that the treacherous Endrast is not so treacherous, is that it? That he, and a trio of our 'highly skilled' guards were taken unawares by a collection of scrap metal and steam?"

"Elf-boss was not taken by metal men." Growled the enormously furred hulk that was J'darr. "Elf-boss was taken by the eyeless ones."

The collection of sniggering and amused snorts from the workers was not lost on the simple minded _pahmar-rhat_ who growled so deeply and loudly that cups and mugs shivered on the tables. Only the enormous paw of his brother coming to rest on a shoulder was enough to calm his building choler but it still didn't stop his trembles of rage.

Unseen to the others, Kaius and his companions stiffened as one, the small group looking amongst themselves with incredible unease that left hands falling to weapons. J'darr continued growling even with his brother's calming influence but Sofia especially was watching the way how the giant Khajiit was shivering despite it all.

"And now we're are besieged by the terrifying nightmares and bedtime tales of our Khajiit brethren." Sulla again announced with a mouthful of spite. "Very well, if none of you are going to be willing to share just how our _friends_ found a way into the city then it's quarter rations for all!"

Surging through the hall, his announcement had the exact effect that he was intending and Sulla smiled at them all. All eyes were focussed on him but there was also no doubt of who held true authority. The sullen and dark expressions meant little to him as he knew that sooner or later, the reduced rations would force one of them to give up their fellow conspirators. He would not allow others to steal what was rightfully his.

Quickly forgetting everything else but his own dreams of glory and riches, Sulla turned on his heel and walked out of the hall with all the regal grace of his upbringing and family. The silence that fell through the group was filled with disquieted expressions being shared amongst the varied parties in the hall and even among the supervisors.

Between Sulla's proclamation and Kaius' use of the Thu'um, several took Sulla's example and began fading into the tunnels. Others milled around anxiously, whispering amongst themselves and complaining bitterly about the fact that their already meagre rations had again been halved for the second time in a week.

Kaius and the others stood still as the various parties began to shuffle away and his gaze was burning in the direction of Umana and Yag as they quietly conversed among themselves before they too left the hall. Even a blind man would have been able to see their unease at their employer's actions and misguided belief that the Endrast had found a way into the city. Even if Kaius and the others thought it was possible in the slightest it didn't explain how or why he would've entered the city without rations, supplies or even getting changed out of his nightclothes.

The appearance of the Spheres in the tunnels was also troubling but not in the usual way of coming face to face with the Dwemer equivalent of soldiers. These spheres were already damaged in various ways before Kaius and the other guards managed to hunt them down and no one seemed to have any explanation as to why or how they were missing arms or how they were entirely lacking in crossbow ammunition. Two of them that they had destroyed had simply been milling about in the Animunculory as though waiting for someone to come and provide repairs but had still retaliated when the guards had attacked.

There was another thought that was now imbedded deep into the minds of Kaius and the others and he could see the fear within the women he travelled with. Each of them was experienced in hiding their true feelings in their own ways; Lydia with her uncompromising devotion to duty, Serana with so many mental barriers between her psyche and true emotions and Sofia's carefree perception and refusal to let anything bother her for more than a second.

It was when his eyes met Sofia's that he saw the same unease that he had at the J'darr's words. Sofia had developed an attachment to the monstrous Khajiit and she didn't waste any time scurrying off after Kaius gestured his way.

The _pahmar-raht_ brothers were moving toward their own lodgings when Sofia came jogging up behind them. It was hard not to feel intimidated by a pair of creatures that outweighed her four or five times over, especially when J'darr started at her appearance. While momentarily, there was no mistaking the twitch and clenching muscles of a being readying to fight before he caught her scent.

"_Ja'fith khaja, Kirma_." He purred through a mouthful of smiling fangs, and by his side his brother also growled a similar greeting.

"Hello Wuffles, hello J'zhar." She replied, looking between him and his brother and smiling. "Are you two okay?"

"We're fine." J'zhar replied almost immediately, one of his enormous paws still resting on his brother's shoulder. "Aren't we brother?"

J'darr purred slightly and shrugged, the contents of the pouches strapped to his chest jingling and chiming from the movement. While he and his brother wore clothes, it was obvious that they were wearing them for utility rather than modesty. A bandolier, belt and harness arrangement covered their chests where most of their personal items and tools were kept but other than a pair of pants, they didn't wear much else.

Ignoring the subtle and underlying meaning in J'zhar's words, she moved closer while smiling. "You have never told me why you all call me that."

"Call you what?"

She looked over at the 'older' brother. "Kirma."

"_Roj kaver aki di kirma__._" J'darr mewled and he breathed in deeply while purring.

Shaking his head in some amusement, J'zhar sighed and patted Sofia on the head with a paw that was as large as her chest. "_Kirma_ means _honey._ J'darr calls you this because that is what you smell like."

"I smell like honey?"

"All Nords do to various extents. It has something to do with all the mead you drink, but you smell of it more than most."

Sofia wasn't sure how she felt but she toed the floor with a twinge of nervousness and embarrassment. "I was wondering if I could ask you something J'darr."

"J'darr can answer if able." Growled the furred _pahmar-rhat_.

"What did you mean by the _eyeless ones_?"

The dual stares, especially by J'zhar were unmistakable and she tried not to show any fear at the sight of the older brother's claws slowly unsheathing.

"J'darr doesn't know what you are talking about."

"J'darr bloody well does." Sofia replied, seeing the way that he shied away and turned his head. "Before when you said that Endrast and the others had been taken by the eyeless ones, what did you mean?"

"J'darr doesn't want to talk about this." Before either Sofia or his brother could do anything, he had turned and began moving away. "J'darr doesn't know anything."

The cold creeping up her spine was not from the cold but from the memories of a night staying at a lighthouse and the nightmares that had plagued her since. She and Kaius and the others knew all too well that certain things such as this could not be coincidence and she was terrified of the likelihood.

"My brother suffers nightmares and visions." J'zhar said sadly as his brother moved quickly down the tunnel and left Sofia wondering whether she should follow him. "He has ever since he was a cub but they have gotten worse the older he becomes."

"Something else is wrong with him too. His mood is worsening the longer we are here."

There was a nod from the other _rhat_ brother. "He doesn't cope well with stress."

"It's not that and you know it." she glanced at J'zhar out of the corner of her eye until J'darr disappeared around a corner. "The twitching, the shakes and the changes in his mood. That's not stress. That's something else entirely."

The silent promise of violence and threat in J'zhar's body language was clear enough and she knew all too well how protective J'darr's brother was of him. His reaction was more than enough to know that she was right and was straying close to something that both of them wanted kept secret and she resisted the urge to needle them for it. "What about these nightmares then? What sort of nightmare has these eyeless things in them?"

Seeing her refusal not to let it go J'zhar sighed and licked the back of his hand a few times before using it to smooth the fur on the side of his face and neck. "The nightmares he's been having for the past three months. Even before we reached this place he had been dreaming of things. He's told me how he's seen creatures coming out of the walls. I fear for my brother's sanity, _Kirma_ but I will always love him no matter what."

The giant paw lightly patted her on the head and he turned away, his enormous weight crushing the ice with every step. Sofia couldn't help but feel the tremble of fear run through her entire body as she remembered being utterly helpless and trapped with poison flowing through her veins. Now it seemed she was helpless again, trapped not by some horrible paralytic but instead by a blizzard millions of times deadlier than any toxin.

As the other brother disappeared down the tunnel to their lodgings, she turned and went looking for Kaius.

* * *

It was obvious to everyone, Kaius included that his mood was getting worse. Even since the night where Sofia had figuratively dumped a bucket of ice water over his head, he was still gripped in a deep melancholy that he couldn't shake. Alcohol didn't help, neither did his training or his attempts to focus on his job and he stalked and prowled through the tunnels with such a dark expression that no one was willing to cross his path.

Sofia at least was the one exception and she didn't seem to care much about how he was feeling, bursting into his perception and privacy with all the subtlety of his _Unrelenting Force_ shout. She had breathlessly spoken about her brief conversation with the _rhat_ brothers and despite her words he could tell that she wasn't entirely convinced that it was merely 'dreams' on J'darr's behalf. The deeper they dug, the more concerned he was at encountering the _Eaters of the Dead_ and the fact that their current quest required them to enter the _Upperdark_ was more than enough to leave him worried.

But despite all this he couldn't bring himself to actually _care_. His words to Sofia had been true, if loosened from the alcohol and voiced for the first time. It was becoming more and more difficult for him to truly care or worry about anything that happened to him and the world itself. Let it all burn or drown under a tide of Falmer bodies or become consumed by the ravenous maw of the king of Dragons. If the world didn't fall to these disasters then there would surely be something else in the future.

Sleeping was becoming ever illusive as well and many a night he stalked through the tunnels on his own or as part of the increasingly regular 'patrols'. Many of the guards and labourers were looking to him more and more with every passing day, especially when fuelled by Sulla's increasing paranoia and desperate attempts to find a way into the city. It was amusing that even the likes of Umana and Yag were beginning to take note of what he said ut like everything else he couldn't bring himself to care in the slightest.

So, he continued prowling, sometimes disappearing into the shadow filled tunnels where Valie had not recharged the stones for weeks and finding solace in the cold and dark. It was refreshing at least but he still returned to the living quarters after his sojourns.

This night appeared to be different as he walked down the tunnel where he and his companions lived. The mood was as always, sombre and subdued as it had been the past fortnight but there was something different about it. He could feel it in his guts, taste it on the cold, bitter air that smelt of fear and flatulence and knew panic well enough.

The men and women of the excavation were terrified and overwhelmingly concerned but it was not the others that he could sense that night. Despite the dozens tossing and turning in their sleep and struggling again the grip of Vaermina's nightmares there was only one whom stopped him as he passed by their door.

To anyone else without the gift of such hearing like that of a vampire the muffled inhalations and rapid breathing could have signified any number of things. Illness, sexual activity, even exercise but Kaius could hear and sense it for what it was. It was panic, deep shuddering breaths of fear and terror; attempts to physically drag in more air with each breath than the one preceding it but failing to do anything more than gulping it in like a drowning man.

For a moment he stood as silent as the glacier itself, listening, deciding, and thinking all at once. Almost without conscious thought he went to continue walking as though he had heard nothing but something else instead made him turn, shift the dividing curtain to one side and enter the room.

Hunched over and pressed into the wall, Serana was clutching at her chest, whimpering and struggling to breathe while holding onto her blankets as though they would physically ward away her ailment. There was something animalistic in her every movement and twitch, eyes scrunched tight in an effort to close off the flow of tears and bones creaking under the strain.

She was however not entirely human at this point. Her nose was squashed flat and flared like that of a bat, her hands and fingers grasping at her bedcovers were long, gnarled and tipped with talons sharper than daggers. Even her skin and flesh, usually so vibrant and rich with life had tightened and dried out like ancient leather and was the colour of a recently exhumed corpse. Hidden in the shadows of her shifting skull, her eyes were burning pits of hatred and a terrible thirst desiring to be slaked with lifeblood.

The growl that struggled out of her throat was inhuman but while Kaius paid it little heed it was almost pleading rather than a threat to stay away. There was also no doubting the pain in her every snarled syllable or the way that she hunched over struggling to remain silent in her own private moments of terror and battle against the darkness in her soul.

Kaius paused in the threshold at the sight of Serana gripped by her panic and anxiety. It was a sensation that he was familiar with, and the way that unlike mortals, vampires showed some of their mental symptoms physically. There was no doubt that she had been in the grip of this panic attack for some time now, if not hours before he had returned from roaming the tunnels.

Without a word and ignoring the inherent threat in her half-changed visage he moved carefully over to her, wrapping his arms around her and holding tight. She could feel his strength, and he could feel hers as he simply enveloped her into his embrace until her anxiety bled from her veins and morning finally came.

* * *

There was something calming about routine and duties, even in the worst of situations Valie could and did find solace in the little things. She had been part of the excavation ever since the very beginning, having been hired from the slums of Windhelm for the sole reason that she was unaffiliated to the College of Winterhold or any of the major guilds. It had been a point of personal pride that she had been able to fulfil all of Sulla's magical needs and had been an integral assistance to the entire excavation.

Moving down the tunnel to each soul gem pressed into the ice, she could feel the cold seeping into her bare fingertips as she reached out and gestured to the crystals in turn. None of the gems contained souls so it was quite easy for her to channel magicka through her fingers and into them to charge them for the day but they required regular maintenance to continue working. Eighteen months of practice had gifted her with the knowledge of exactly how much magicka was required during the mornings to last through the day. It was enough to provide a semi-regular day-night cycle and the hour or so she spent every morning helped ease the tension in her mind.

Between the lack of food and the fact that she hadn't eaten anything but watery soup for three weeks now, she had been listening to her stomach growl throughout the nights but her magicka at least provided a measure of calm. It was in her blood, through her countless ancestors and mighty Alinor and no one, not even Kaius and his dragon-tongue could hope to contend with the power that flowed through the veins of every Altmer.

Another gem began glowing with the might of her blood and she smiled, watching for a moment as the light left swirling and beautiful patterns playing across the surface of the ice. There were dozens of such gems within the walls of the entire dig site and while she no longer maintained all of them there were still enough to leave her feeling fatigued by the time she finished.

It used to be so simple. Walk twenty metres, channel some magicka and feel its caress on her mind as she did so, but it was growing harder. It was still a far cry from her years in Windhelm, especially during the civil war where she was left fearful and waiting for the inevitable knock on the door that announced Jarl Ulfric's men come to rape her, steal her possessions and throw her into a cell for the crime of being born an Elf. Perhaps it was these experiences that provided her the strength to continue on even as their rations became progressively smaller and smaller with every day that the storm raged.

The trembling in her hand and the wetness of the eyes as she reached out to the next gem said otherwise and she knew that she wasn't as strong as the others. She wasn't like the other women of the excavation. Unlike Umana and Yag or even the others such as Serana and Lydia, she couldn't continue on without showing signs of her true feelings. They were trapped in this frozen prison where the cold and starvation would slowly eat away at their strength and sanity until they curled up and died, forgotten and lost to all Tamriel.

Such a fate was one that she wasn't sure was too different to that in the slums of Windhelm. Here, just as she had during those years in the frozen city-fortress she was using her magicka to scrounge enough to survive, bartering her skills for the semblance of a warm meal in her belly.

There was no doubt that her mind was playing tricks on her though. Partially starved and the building stress was bringing back all the memories of knocking doors and a horde of filthy Stormcloaks ready to paw at her and defile her. This time though it wasn't the sound of knocking on wood but a strange scratching that seemed ever present and ebbed and flowed like the tide. For weeks now, she had heard it during the mornings as she recharged the tunnel's light sources and had always considered it to be some Nordic vermin or the like. There had been rats in the Grey Quarter and the other slums of Windhelm even in the worst of winters as though they were taunting the Nords with their inhuman resistance.

It was always there though, no matter how hard that she tried to ignore it and this morning was no different. The last batch of soul gems was those near the main intersection leading off towards the primary dig, the Animunculory and the failed tunnels. There were four such gems in the corners of the intersection to provide enough light but for the moment at least her own Magelight was illuminating the swirls of blue-green in the ice around her.

What it wasn't illuminating was the source of the scratching as she moved into the intersection and heard it properly for the first time. It wasn't some wayward echo or trick of the tunnels but sounding close and urgent and almost as though a wooden stick was being dragged along the frozen walls. It was there, close by but just out of sight in the darkened tunnels and with her heart hammering in her chest she stood on the threshold where light met shadow.

The darkened tunnel mouths yawned like the jaws of enormous deep-sea predators and there was no denying the crawling sensation as though she was being watched. Everyone else in the dig would only just be waking and as hard as she tried to convince herself that there was nothing to fear, the more terror slid its claws through her muscles.

Slowly, and carefully she raised a hand, palm upwards and twisted her fingers like her mother had caught and caught the energies between her fingers as though she was lifting an apple. Sparking into existence, the ball of light appeared in the palm of her hand before she extended her arm and cast it down the ruined tunnels.

Hidden in the darkness was a sight wrenched from the worst of her nightmares. Wall to wall was writhing, twisted grey flesh as sickly and diseased as a drowned corpse and yet there was no twinkling or gleaming of eyes in the mass. The scratching was much louder now and as the cast light dissipated down the tunnel and returned it to an all-encompassing gloom, she felt rather than heard them begin moving closer.

All of her fears of living in the slums returned but now they were much worse than what mere men could offer. With a trembling hand and eyes screwed tight she waved a pattern in the air, dispelling the magelight twinkling at her shoulder to spare her the sight of her fate.


	8. Darkness

The Animunculory was never silent, and the longer than Sofia stood within it the more she struggled to understand how Endrast had managed to sleep in there. The walls ticked, the broken pipes hissed and somewhere in amongst it all there was a clicking sound as painful as it was constant. Something had suffered such damage that it no longer worked and yet with the unthinking nature of stone and metal it continued trying as it had done for thousands of years.

The trickling of water from the condensation flowing through the grates in the floor was pleasant enough though, it made her think of happier times of sitting back watching the waterfalls as a child within the Reach. As harsh and mountainous as Markarth's hold was, it was still beautiful in its own way and it was the closest she would ever get to homesickness.

Unfortunately for her, homesickness would have been a blessing compared to the gnawing sensation crawling through her belly. It had been eating into her for days now and there was no doubting that the others with her at that moment were feeling the same way. People were disappearing and neither Sofia or her comrades had any illusions to the danger that they all faced.

"What are we going to do?"

Kaius stood silent, staring and holding the impervious bars blocking them from Alftand and shrugged. "There's not much we can do, but we're running out of time."

"If we don't vanish like the others then the lack of food is going to kill us before the storm passes." Lydia added, still as stoic as ever but Sofia could see that her face was pinched and gaunt. They had been on quarter rations for a week now, and trapped under the ice for over a month and food was still running out. Somehow. There should've been enough food to survive on half rations for two months, maybe more but the rumours throughout the remaining members of the excavation spoke of some of their number stealing food. Tensions were high enough as it was and not a day went past without a fight or two breaking out.

"We have much bigger problems."

Sofia, Lydia and Serana's attentions were solely focussed on Kaius. He was still as depressed as he had been the previous months but there was doubting that he was also as tense as the bars of Dwemer metal.

"Falmer?"

He nodded to Serana. "Falmer."

"How certain are you?"

Shrugging hopelessly, he rapped his fingers on the bars despite the fact that they also seemed to absorb sound as they did extremes in temperature. "Honestly, I'm not entirely sure. My experiences with the Falmer have been limited to their assaults on villages and settlements within the Underdark. I've never encountered them infiltrating and ambushing, but they are nomadic hunters."

For a moment he stood in thought, puffing his cheeks out with a large breath. "I haven't found any tracks or traces of them but I've never been good at tracking through snow and ice. Some of those we're lost I think have been from Animunculi but I can't help but feel wary walking through the tunnels."

Lydia stared down the tunnel and refused to look in anyone's direction. "Could it be others of the expedition responsible?"

"It's a little early to be resorting to cannibalism don't you think?" Serana muttered under her breath.

"That too is possible. Rolf and some of the others are definite contenders and would be the ones to worry about if they began looking healthier all of a sudden. Whether it is because of Falmer, Automatons or a murderer or two in our ranks it doesn't matter; we need to get into the city."

"I doubt that there is any food left in the city Kaius."

He looked at Sofia for a moment, continuing with his rhythmic tapping on the bars that made them all uneasy at the utter lack of noise it produced. "There won't be, but if we can find a way into the Underdark…"

"We need to find a way into the city first."

Continuing his tapping, Kaius nodded and looked at the broken pipes filling the tunnel with steam. It was warmer in the Animunculory for this reason alone but he could see the moisture drenched lever only a few short meters through the mist.

"There might be a way for me to get through the bars but I don't like my chances of surviving through the steam."

"Maybe with a collection of wards cast in front of the pipes the amount of steam might be reduced…" Sofia trailed off as she saw the twitch of a smile on Kaius' face.

"That was my idea."

"And getting past the bars?"

Kaius grinned even more than before at Serana but this was not a pleasant smile but one that showed the way that his fangs were lengthening.

"Then why not do it now?"

He shrugged. "I give myself about a one in five chance of being able to get through there and pulling that lever without dying. I'm hoping that we find another way into the city but without Valie and Endrast I'm not that much of a betting man." They could hear the rough noise as he rubbed his stubble covered face with a gloved hand. "If we haven't had any luck in the next two or three days, we'll start making preparations with this entrance."

"You don't sound very confident."

"That's because I'm not." He replied to Serana. "If we fail here without any other options available then we will all die. The only real difference is that if I fail, I'll be the first of us to die.

"Instead of us all dying at the same time because of Sulla?"

Dark expressions covered all of their faces at Sofia's simple statement and Kaius spat noisily through the bars. "That man has problems."

"And not just financial ones." Slowly, Sofia realised that she had again drew the attention of the others and shrugged. "What?"

"Financial problems?" Lydia asked carefully.

"I've overheard him speaking of how he owes a lot of money to the Dragol clan. Apparently, he borrowed from them to finance this expedition in the first place."

Kaius' expression of annoyance and the way that he pinched the bridge of his nose didn't go unnoticed. "Of course, he is that stupid."

"Kaius? Do you know who they are?"

He nodded. "Yeah. The Dragol's are a clan of Orcs from Bravil. They are one of the largest organised crime families in Cyrodiil and definitely not ones to get on the bad side of."

"From what I have heard, their deadline passed three weeks ago."

Slowly, he looked between Sofia and the blocked passage. "That explains a lot."

"It does?"

"Yeah. Sulla has been acting strange but it's more than the usual 'puffed-up-noble'. He's terrified and that's why he's so determined to get into the city."

"And the blaming everyone for failure and thinking that everyone else has found a way in?"

"He's on the path for a breakdown." Serana added. "and he's not the only one. That J'darr is also one we have to watch."

Sofia looked over at her and rolled her eyes. "Wuffles is fine. He's just going through withdrawals."

"Withdrawals? What makes you think that?"

This time, her sigh was much louder and annoyed. "I don't think it, I _know_ it because I'm going through the exact same thing at the moment."

"You look fine to me."

She gave Lydia a look as edged as her sword. "Like you would know. I haven't slept properly in a week and I can't get rid of these shakes or the fact that I haven't stopped sweating in just as long."

"You haven't been drinking?" Kaius actually looked surprised but there was an underlying concern that Sofia couldn't help but notice. "What about your supplies?"

"They're running low. Food isn't the only thing that we're running out of and I'm certain that Sulla and some of the others aren't abiding by the same ration plan as the rest of us."

"They haven't been." Serana's tone was almost a growl. "They taste better than the others."

Lydia and Sofia shuddered unconsciously and Kaius snorted at their reaction.

"Why haven't you taken over anyway?" Asked Serana as Kaius returned to looking down the steam filled tunnel. "Most of the workers will follow you and I think Umana and Yag could be persuaded."

"It's not going to make a difference who's in charge." He replied simply. "What would I do differently? Put everyone on rations and continue digging? The only thing that it would change would be who gets overthrown when food runs out or when everyone finally gives up."

Thumbing the gleaming edge of her fighting axe, Lydia appeared deep in thought. "Glad to know that you have such faith in us all and our chances of survival."

"Not all of us are getting out of here." Despite the warm mist and air from the tunnel, the temperature seemed to drop from Kaius' tone alone. "I'm being extremely pragmatic. I know that I haven't been myself for a while now but I'm struggling to get out of bed these days and it's not from lack of food."

Despite the armour and layers of furs, Sofia's fingertips brushed down his arm and she could have almost sworn that she could feel the warmth of his skin. "We're all in this together Kaius. After all the dragons and everything else this is nothing."

"This is worse than anything that we have experienced." Slowly, he dragged in a lungful of air and breathed out a cloud of steam. Halfway through the motion he paused for a moment, licking his lips as though tasting the air coming from the city. "Can you smell that?"

Sofia and Lydia shared a glance between themselves as the housecarl shrugged. "Smell what?"

Serana's face had grown taut as she breathed in through a nose that began flattening out instinctively. "Blood."

As a group the four of them turned and looked down the tunnel, feeling the further tendrils of unease creeping up their spines and into their bowels.

"Well, that's just wonderful." Exclaimed Sofia, before muttering a series of colourful curses under her breath.

* * *

Their game had lasted for the better part of an hour now, and the three of them were rotating through who would be facing against who. For those who didn't know them, the appearance of three burly Nords hunching over the tiny wooden board would've appeared to have been incongruous, especially due to the care that they took with each of the tiny carved figures. Hands more used to swinging pickaxes and shovels would move almost daintily across the wooden board, hovering over each of the carved figures before moving them into a different square.

"Hey! I saw that!"

Draghal looked to his friend hovering over the board like an owl and waved him off. "You didn't see shit Thaeulf, that's a legal move."

"In chess maybe. You can't move your pieces diagonally."

As they had several times since beginning the game, they turned to their third friend waiting for one of them to win the match for his own turn. Hemir was sitting with a knife and a chunk of ice in his gloved hands, whittling it like a piece of wood into a feminine figure. For a second, he looked away from his efforts, before returning to his work. "They can't move diagonally Dragger."

Scowling more the use of his nickname rather than the fact he had been caught out, Draghal returned the piece to its original spot before moving a different piece towards the closest board edge. "There. Are you happy now?"

"Yep." Thaeulf flicked one of the pieces away with one of his own, taking yet another of Draghal's off the board and leaving very few left between his '_Jarl_' and Thaeulf's encroaching figures.

No matter how Thaeulf insisted, he couldn't bring himself to call the central pieces 'Stormcloaks' and the outer pieces 'Imperials'. He was born in Helgen many years before dragonfire wiped it off the map and was almost more Cyrodillic than some born in the south. Besides that, he still considered himself as a traditionalist and preferred the original names.

The rules were simple, the _Haafingians_ were arrayed in the centre of the 9x9 board with their '_Jarl_' in the direct centre. He would be in the centre of a cross of eight pieces and the '_Reachmen'_ would have four pieces on each side of the board. The '_Reachmen'_, or '_Imperials_' as Thaeulf continued to call them almost to spite him would have to capture the '_Jarl'_ and the _Haafingians_ or _'Stormcloaks'_ would have to protect him long enough to exit the board. Unlike chess there were no special pieces and was admittedly a lot easier to learn.

Ever since they joined the excavation after years working in Iron-Breaker mine in Dawnstar they had turned games such as this one into a nightly ritual. Before the storm they used to play for coin, but after the storm they now played for their small, dwindling collection of hard tack biscuits they had managed to keep from the others. As their rations continued reducing in size, the trio of miners coveted the single nightly biscuit almost over everything else.

They played everything from chess to dice and cards but in the past week Hemir had managed to teach them _Hnefatafl_. For Draghal it wasn't an unfamiliar game as he had many fond memories of being taught by his father, but it had been so many long years that he had almost entirely forgotten how to play.

It wasn't helping his situation though. The encroaching forces of Thaeulf were closing in on his Jarl no matter how played or moved his pieces and after a dozen more turns he finally had to admit defeat.

"That's one of the longest games we've had Dragger. You're getting better."

The amusement in the younger man's voice was evident but the night's biscuit it seemed would be going to him or Hemir. Much to Draghal's dismay. It was the one piece of their diet that they had at the moment that was different than the watery soup and a cupful of alcohol twice a day.

"Yeah, still not as good as you though." His bitterness wasn't directed to the younger man but he could still hear it as Thaeulf rose to his feet.

"You'll be fine Dragger. Ysmir smiles upon the brave." With a clap on the back, Thaeulf walked past Draghal as he continued staring at the board, remembering the moves they had done and wondering how to improve. "I'll be back shortly to kick your arse Hemir."

"If you're taking a shit make sure you don't do it in the middle of the tunnel like last time." Hemir replied without looking up from his carving.

Draghal's laugh was just as loud. "And make sure you put a mark on your forehead so we know the right one comes back!"

Thaeulf continued walking but paused to stick his tongue out and raise his middle finger in their direction. "I'm just having a piss, thank you bastards very much. Next time I'll hold onto it until we get back to our rooms…"

They waved him off and while Hemir persisted working on his carving Thaeulf continued wondering how he would be able to beat his opponent the next time they played. It was somewhat infuriating but it served as a perfect distraction to the growling of their stomachs from their poor diet and the cold of the tunnels. Only the three of them knew of the hardtack biscuits hidden in a backpack jammed into a crevice in this tunnel and it served as the perfect spot to play as well. No one noticed them, and they didn't have to contend with the likes of the Khajiit and their acute sense of smell uncovering their stash. The only problem was that after nearly four weeks the number of biscuits were growing very small in number indeed.

"Who are you carving this time?" he said, looking over Hemir's handiwork with an appreciative eye. Hemir had a talent of whittling and when they lived in Dawnstar he made a tidy little profit selling his carvings when he had more than just ice to work with.

"Can't you guess?"

"Well, there's not too many women down here so I'm guessing that it's one of those who follow the _Dovahkiin_ around."

"Yup." Hemir beamed twisting it about in his hands and scraping the knife for a few more seconds before blowing away all the powdered ice. "Can you see the likeness?"

"Bit small to be Sofia. This one has a bit more meat on her bones."

"We could all do with a bit more meat on our bones." Hemir replied wistfully and both of them were left feeling their guts clench with hunger. "It's Lydia."

"The hard-faced one? Gods you better hope she doesn't find you carving nudes, otherwise you might end up ballless as well as starving."

"Who knows? She might be taken in by my artistic talents and I might get to feel the real thing. A few days after they arrived, I accidently walked in on her dressing and she has a body that you could crack walnuts on."

Caught on the tip of his tongue, Draghal's response was stopped in mid breath from the sudden grunt from around the corner of the tunnel and he and Hemir rolled their eyes. "Ysmir's breath, I thought you said you weren't taking a shit?"

Silence was all that Draghal received as a response and he shared a glance with Hemir as he stood. The single grunt was unusual but there was also something else on the very edge of his hearing. It was faint and hard to discern but it was very similar to the sound that Hemir's knife made as he carved his tiny figurines.

"Thaeulf? What's the issue? We haven't eaten enough for you to have problems…"

Turning around the corner with Hemir at his side, both of them stopped in horror at the sight before them. The tunnel that they had claimed for their evening activities was one of the many failed ones that led to nothing more than a cave in. To reduce their likelihood of having their stash of biscuits discovered by the other members of the excavation they used the dead end as their latrine but instead of finding Thaeulf conducting his business he was instead laid out on the ice.

Both men were all too familiar with the injuries resulting from cave ins and falling stones in mines but this was no accident. Thaeulf's skull had been crushed with a single blow that left blood and brains leaking from the ruined mess of the back of his head and those responsible were still present.

Hunched and clad in ruined leathers, the pair of creatures kneeling over his corpse were busy digging their teeth into the meat of the miner's back and arms in a frenzy of movement. Blood was spurting from the last dying beats of his heart and from the sheer animalistic hunger that their malnourished bodies displayed. They ripped through his flesh and clothing with their diseased claws and blackened teeth, ripping, tearing and swallowing in an orgy of bloodlust.

The mutual cries of revulsion from the two miners caught their attentions and hissing like reptiles they shied away from the faint light of the soul gem grasped in Draghal's palm. In that moment both he and Hemir suddenly wished they could forget the twisted, vicious expressions of a pair of spike-eared abominations that somehow entirely lacked eyes.

What was worse than the sight of their friend laying face down and his bodily fluids flash freezing to the ice was that the pair of creatures were not alone. Crawling out of the ice and wriggling free of the tiny crevices that had led to this tunnel being abandoned, a horde of monsters were baring their sharpened teeth and hissing with anticipation.

Neither of them needed any further prompting and turned and began running, their steps heavy in comparison to the tsumani of scrabbling and clawing from the darkness behind them. The mild scratching that they had heard was the creatures' claws on the ice but now it filled the tunnel in a deafening roar.

Without conscious thought, Draghal hurdled the tiny collection of frozen blocks they used for seats and the makeshift table holding the board. A tiny abstract portion of his mind took note of the slivered arrow that punched into the ice a second before he made the leap and the fact that it wasn't alone. A handful of the shafts were flitting through the darkness all around them but it wasn't until he heard Hemir's pained gasp that he realised that not all were entirely inaccurate. One of the shafts had hit his friend in the back of a thigh and had sent him sprawling.

Skidding to a halt in a tiny fountain of pulverised ice, Draghal turned in place and saw the pained expression of his friend face and the realisation of what it meant. The creatures were swarming and bounding through the tunnel in a strange, hunched gait and covered the ground quickly despite the fact they were technically on all fours. Even though that there were only a few metres between the two miners it may as well have been the entire province.

"Go!" Hemir roared on the top of his lungs, ripping his knife from its sheath in a burly hand. "Get the fuck out of here!"

For only a moment did Draghal pause, seeing the look in his friend's eyes and the realisation of what was going to happen. Terror and adrenaline were fighting for control over his desire to rush back to his friend's aid but part of his mind was already realising the futility and so he turned and sprinted away, his boots struggling for purchase on the icy floor.

The half-finished figurine skittered across the floor as Hemir went down under a horde of grey, squirming bodies. For a moment the carved likeness of Lydia's nude body stared up at the ceiling in its sensuous pose before it was crushed into powder under dozens of leprous feet.


	9. Horde

Despite the fact that large numbers of the excavation members inevitably lead to fights, the dining hall was still popular for those remaining. Where in the weeks before the storm it had been filled with laughter and song it was now mostly filled with sullen silence as most chose to reside in there to keep both eyes on those they didn't trust. Anyone who was left alone was considered to simply be the next person everyone expected to vanish and small groups were treated with suspicion or believed to be responsible for the disappearances or dwindling food reserves.

As a result, the tables were host to their own miniature factions, sitting closely together and whispering amongst the other members of their group and staring at the others. There were four major groups now among the survivors; Sulla and his supervisors, the Khajiit, the majority of the miners and labourers and Kaius, his companions and whoever didn't fit in amongst the others. The Khajiit were treated with the most suspicion for being responsible for the disappearances, especially the increasingly twitchy J'darr despite the fact that they never left the living quarters without a number of the men and mer labourers. Almost all except for Kaius's group suspected the giant Khajiit for being responsible for Valie's disappearance, and the mistrust was threatening to reach a crescendo in the coming days or weeks.

"Shifting their way to the flank, the remaining troops of the Eighth Legion continued their advance into the foe but they met stiff resistance from the Dominion. Three entire elvish battalions had been lying in wait in the dead ground and they assaulted the Legion on all sides."

"They managed to hide that many soldiers in gullies and creek beds?"

Kaius looked up from the tiny collection of carved blocks of ice and cutlery that he had arranged into battle lines across the surface of the table. "Indeed. Despite what the bards and stories say, battles are never fought over enormous areas. Ranks of men have about a metre for each soldier at the very most which means when armies fight in ranks, they don't cover much ground at all. A thousand men arranged in three ranks will only cover an area about three hundred meters wide and three or four metres deep at the most."

One of the routines for the evenings had transformed into Kaius teaching various topics or simply telling stories from his considerable memory. While stories or lessons such as military history or tactics were framed in certain ways to appear as though he was reciting a book, his companions knew all too well that he had first hand knowledge of some of the battles he spoke about.

"But the elves annihilated the Eighth, right?"

"Not right away." He spared a glance to the young miner watching his hands slowly shift and move the various items and blocks of ice representing the battle. "The Eighth took considerable casualties but remember what I said last week about the battle of the Red Ring? Maybe one in ten ultimately survived the great war but this was their first taste of battle."

"Some taste." One of the labourers muttered at the sight of the trio of ice blocks were slid to touch the block representing the Legion on three sides. Someone had humorously made a tiny standard from a piece of cloth and it sat proudly out of the crudely carved block.

"Outflanked and outnumbered three to one, the Legate ordered the ranks to be reduced and compressed the legion from a rectangle." Pulling out the tiny standard, he stuck it into a different block of ice. "into a square, or testudo. Now normally this would have done very little at all as the elves still held the advantage of numbers and being surrounded as such could very well lead to a compression of the ranks. If the legionaries allowed themselves to be compressed too much then they could very well be stuck and unable to raise their shields or even move their arms and can be killed at leisure. But, can anyone see what the Elven commander did wrong?"

Several sets of eyes were staring intently at the representation of the battle but Lydia gave the hint that she was internally smiling as she pointed to the blocks. "He attacked too early."

"Exactly. What effects did this have?"

His 'students' continued thinking and one of the other miners tapped his finger against his bottom lip. "They were still on the hill."

Kaius grinned. "That is correct. The legionaries were still on the slope, which meant that the two flanking units had to march and fight uphill to flank the Eight, all the while under heavy missile fire. By the time that they managed to properly envelop the Legion they too had suffered heavy casualties which only became worse when two cohorts of _Extraordinarii_ arrived."

Using two smaller blocks he pushed them along the table, hitting the two flanking blocks on their flanks and pushing them away. "The cavalry had full use of the slope to assist in breaking the elven units and despite being extremely outnumbered they routed two entire battalions and allowed the Eight to fall back."

"The battle was won then?"

"Not right away. This represents seven hours of fighting before Legate Cassia managed to retreat her legion to a safe position."

Kaius' companions saw the shadow of emotion cross over his face at something as simple as a name. He had appeared better for the past days but he was still obviously depressed and fighting with his own emotions. No one else seemed to really notice or overly care though, as everyone else was very much in the same situation with the prospect of starvation and death in their futures.

"But, as I said earlier this was merely the first of many battles that the Eighth took part in, their greater victories…" he trailed off in mid-sentence, stopping and rising to his feet while appearing to look about the hall.

Sofia, sitting next to Lydia with her feet up on a stool saw the sudden tension filling Kaius and felt a chill course up her spine. "What is it?"

Before he could answer, and from the mouth of the tunnel, one of the miners exploded into view at full sprint. His face was as white as the crushed ice underfoot, breath ragged and wheezing from excertion and the smell of fear and sweat was suddenly prominent throughout the hall.

"T-things! In… in the tunnel!" he stammered breathlessly, falling to a knee and slapping a table with a callused hand in the attempt to keep himself upright. "Attacked… Us…"

Kaius' stool was knocked over as he moved in the man's direction as he continued sucking in great, shuddering gulps of air. The muttering of the others in the hall quietened as they looked at hard expression that consumed Kaius' face as he moved over.

"Things? What things? Automatons?"

The miner shook his head hard, eyes white with fear. "N-No. Grey things… Grey things without eyes. They…" he stopped in mid breath as his mind finally caught up to his body and doubled over coughing and gagging.

Sofia and Lydia had also risen to their feet at his words and their attentions were fully on him and Kaius. The others in the room broke out into amused snickering and even outright laughter, but Kaius and his companions were silent.

"You been drinking Dragger?" One of the other miners called out mockingly, and the table they were seated at broke out into laughter.

"Did anyone else see them? How many were there?" Kaius' attitude had changed now, turning cold and dangerous as he barraged Draghal with questions. "Where did you see them?"

The larger Nord was blinking quickly, the whites of his eyes clearly visible as he struggled to force the words form his throat. "The… The eastern tunnels, and there's dozens, maybe more." Slowly, other thoughts finally broke through the jumbling mess of shock and terror and he blanched. "Oh gods, they killed… They killed Thaeulf and Hemir!"

The snickering and muted laughter died off and Draghal had everyone's attention now. What they all didn't notice was the way that Kaius rose to his full height, his muscles tense and face suddenly becoming expressionless as he turned to Lydia and Sofia.

"Go get Serana." He said simply, and both women simply nodded and moved without question. "And bring me my armour."

The others around him were not as compliant and saw just how serious he was taking it with various degrees of amusement.

"The rest of you, I'd recommend arming yourselves."

The silence that fell throughout the dining hall was as sudden as it was obvious and the joviality was replaced with a building nervousness. Everyone may have been willing to brush off Draghal's appearance and fearful exclamations but they were not about to second guess the man able to speak the tongue of dragons.

A large number of them shuffled their way towards their rooms or the tool storage but others simply milled around anxiously and unable to decide what to do. Kaius remained alongside Draghal, offering him a mug filled with fresh water and not looking up as the pack of enormous Khajiit prowled over.

"Trouble?" Growled J'zhar, glancing between the two men.

"Lots of it." Kaius replied, looking over them all and seeing the tenseness filling the giant beings. "How prepared are you all for a fight?"

The growls of amusement revealed maws filled with curved fangs and more than one clenched their paws with their claws unsheathed. "More than ready."

Less welcome was the sudden calling out from the tunnels, and Kaius tried his best not to growl as well as Sulla burst into the hall with a thunderous expression on his face.

"Just what is the meaning of all of this?" He spat, specifically glaring at Kaius standing over the weeping Draghal whose emotions finally caught up and overwhelmed him.

"We're under attack." Kaius' tone was cold and there was not even the tiniest trace of subservience that there had been the weeks previously.

Sulla immediately recognised the challenge in Kaius' tone and frowned. "Is that right? What am I paying you and your kind for then? Go deal with it."

Clicking his fingers, he spared a single glance to Umana hovering at his back and gestured at two of the guards sitting in their chairs. Both men were armed with a sword and axe respectively but hadn't gone with the others to acquire their armour.

"We all need to stay together. This is definitely not the time to separate."

At Kaius' tone and utter refusal to back down, Sulla's face changed from annoyed, to shocked, to red faced and shaking with rage. "Who in all of Oblivion do you think you are!" He snarled, practically spitting the words into Kaius' face as he stomped forward. "You don't give orders, I do!"

Turning his head this way and that, he managed to fix his gaze upon Umana and some of the workers, pointing between them and Kaius. "I want this man removed and locked away." He roared, his voice echoing through the room and connecting tunnels. "Then I want the rest of you to…"

The chittering and clicking noise made itself heard over Sulla's anger and he turned with his face even more contorted in rage at what he expected to be someone making fun of him. Instead, he and the others found themselves staring in horror at the monstrosity that came scuttling into the room.

It was large, much larger than the Dwemer spiders but there was no mistaking the fact that this creature was not of the long-vanished race. A chitinous carapace gleamed wetly under the fading soul gems in the walls, but instead of polished bronze, it was a greenish grey that looked akin to moss covered granite. It was also impossible to notice that unlike the creatures of steam and gears, this creature was alive and breathing.

The exclamations of shock and fear as those nearest to it stumbled or tripped and fell backwards over their chairs drowned out the wet chittering of the creature's mouthparts as its excitement grew. Foul ichor and saliva dripped from the jagged mandibles and before anyone could react further it charged.

Shaped in the horrible approximation of a centipede, earwig and spider, the enormous insect outweighed all of the men and mer in the room by a noticeable margin but moved with incredible speed. The chittering of its segmented body and the scratching of its claws filled the room before the screaming began.

Hissing and spitting a stream of noxious liquid at the nearest worker, it launched itself at him even as the man began shrieking in agony. The liquid ate away at his clothes and flesh with frightening ease, liquefying a large portion of his face and chest even as he went down under its claws and mandibles.

Panic erupted in the hall as everyone reacted to the appearance of the insect and the death of one of their number. Unlike the soulless efficiency of the Dwemer Spiders, this creature shredded the hapless worker in a mindless rage, ignoring the shrieks of agony and the screams of terror from the others as they fled.

Not everyone fled. Kaius was already moving, his broadsword gripped tight but as quick as he was J'darr was even faster. A black and white striped blur passed from one side of the hall to the other before the insect messily came apart in an explosion of gore. For the second after J'darr ripped it apart everyone was left trying to understand what just happened, recalling images of him digging his claws into its head, folding it in half and throwing it into the frozen walls so hard that it smeared itself over six metres of ice.

"_Bugs…_" growled the enormous _phamar-rhat_ and he strode back and forth, ignoring the corpse of the worker near his feet as the acidic venom slowly consumed it.

Kaius too ignoring the workers horrible death as he shifted through the press. "Everyone needs to arm themselves _right now_. If you have armour, wear it. I also want everyone who can to grab backpacks and fill them with as many supplies as they can carry."

Incredulously many of them shifted and began moving, their shock and surprise allowing Kaius' commands to seep into their brain and make them react without question. Only Sulla and the Khajiit seemed unaffected as the others began moving about.

Watching J'darr flick goblets of insectoid meat and chitin off his unsheathed claws, Kaius twisted and met the other brother's stare and that of the other Khajiit. "I have a request to make of you all."

Ears twitched in interest and the enormous labourers met his grin with fang filled ones of their own. "What do you need?" J'zhar rumbled.

"I need scouts in the tunnels. We need to know where and how many we are facing. I want you all to go into the tunnels, find where they are and report back to me." His finger stabbed at J'zhar's barrel chest with intent. "No prolonged fighting, hit and run and bleed them a little if you have no choice but don't force them to react."

"What sort of things are we looking for?" Replied one of the other labourers and it was obvious that he, and the other _pahmars_ were enjoying the idea of a fight.

"You'll know them when you see them, trust me on that." With a wave of a hand he gestured to the stinking, steaming remains that were sliding down from where J'darr had painted the wall. "Be careful though, if they have Chaurus there will be a lot of them. They are may be small but in numbers and with their pets you can't afford to get pinned down. Also, beware of the smaller Chaurus. Their venom won't eat flesh like these _reapers_ but they will sicken and slow you down."

The group nodded almost as one and J'zhar looked between Kaius and his brother trying to wipe the rest of the greenish ichor off his hands. "I'll leave my brother and one of the others here to help defend you all from any they get past us." He said simply, turning around and snarling fiercely with the others of his kind. "_Alsaka ahzirr hirsinith litera!_"

Their enthusiastic roars ripped through the air and the group of Khajiits changed from the friendly labourers into hunters in a heartbeat. The change was enough to chill the blood even when compared to the sudden and gruesome death of the labourer whose body was now the focus of recovery by some of his colleagues. They moved with an undeniably powerful energy, bounding forward and only J'zhar paused for a moment, snarling "_Rasin Kirma_" to his brother before vanishing after the others.

Unlike the others who had been shocked into action, Sulla was milling about with an expression that alternated between indignation and confusion before turning into anger once more when he faced Kaius. "You have much to explain master Desin."

"And we don't have enough time." Kaius snapped and Sulla was silenced for a heartbeat in surprise. "The threat that faces us is too much to fight and we can't wait here for it to arrive. If they have _reapers_ then there are certainly far too many to face such as we are."

"But we are defensible and all of our supplies are located here…"

Looking between Umana and Sulla, Kaius sighed and rubbed his face on the back of a hand. "We must get into the city with every scrap of food we can carry. The fact that we have encountered automatons means the city hasn't fallen to the Falmer. The Dwemer machines at least will only kill us rather than eating us."

"Falmer? Snow Elves? What nonsense are you speaking?"

"Again, we don't have the time for this, you stuck-up bastard. A horde of cannibals are coming and have been responsible for the disappearances for these past weeks and thanks to our rationing we have neither the strength or numbers to hold them off. Our only hope is to try to breach the Animunculory and get into the city. The more time we waste arguing is less time we have to escape."

Red faced and hissing, Sulla took a step forward before Umana grasped him by the arm. "I believe him." She said simply, and was only partially surprised when Yag nodded in agreement as well.

"I'm with you." The green skinned supervisor grunted.

Kaius and Sulla burned holes into each other with their eyes before the expedition leader relented. "Very well. We will put our faith in your judgement that has proven so _effective_ before." The implied insult and threat were not lost on any of them and Kaius seemed to ignore it entirely. "I will be interest to see just how you intend to get into the city that 'no one' else has managed to."

He had no words for the Imperial nobleman, instead turning away and directing the few returning from their rooms with travelling packs towards the storeroom and those very few armed to watch the two tunnels leading into the living area. Everyone was on the verge of panic now, especially how the number of guards, not including Kaius and his companions was a total of four. Only the two remaining Khajiit seemed to provide any semblance of calm as they quickly went about preparing.

Sofia and Lydia returned shortly after, bringing Serana and Kaius' armour and equipment. The three women soon moved about helping the others loading every piece of food capable of being carried throughout the two dozen packs but it was obvious that despite the limited amount there was very little they would be able to carry. Only the crushed corpse of the insect provided everyone with the sight of what was coming for them instead of the lingering threat of starvation.

Kaius was almost fully dressed in his armour when the bounding forms of the Khajiit scouts returned, several running on all fours in a frightening burst of speed as they appeared. Of the seven who had left, only six returned and to an individual they were covered with gore that matted their fur and several were sporting injuries.

"We be in a lot of trouble." One of them growled, his face sporting a brand-new gash that ran from scalp to jaw.

"How many are there?"

The fact that half a dozen Khajiit of a breed utilised in war were obviously nervous was not lost on anyone. "Too many." J'zhar said sombrely. "The eastern tunnels are filled but they appear to be coming from the abandoned tunnels. We lost Ra'jodhidzo."

The simple proclamation of one of the _pahmar_ being killed by their adversary slammed home the seriousness of the situation and after a brief pause from everyone in earshot they returning to scurrying about even more frantically.

Using his teeth to pull his vambrace straps on tight, Kaius appeared deep in thought for a moment. His companions unknowingly shared a silent sigh of relief at the more familiar persona of their comrade, but Sofia at least could still the hints of darkness behind his mood.

"Five minutes." He said, raising his voice that it echoed. "Then we make for the Animunculory. I want those who can fight at the front and rear." Shifting his attentions back to the Khajiit, he frowned slightly. "Have they made it into the primary tunnel?"

There was a collective shaking of heads that left manes fluttering. "It will be a close run." One of their number muttered.

"I will need you all to clear the way. Myself and the others will hold the rear-guard until we reach the Animunculory then I will be counting on you all to hold them off."

The growl from the group was bowel sickeningly deep and fangs were again revealed despite their injuries and loss of one of their number.

Under the watchful eye of himself and the handful of others soon burdened by their packs, the entire group of workers congregated as it was made certain that no one had been forgotten about in the increasing panic. Only when the three guards tasked with checking the three tunnels to the bedrooms returned and announced that no one was being left behind did they set off down the tunnels.

As it always had, the strange acoustics of the tunnel network played on their nerves and they could hear the echoes of hissing, chittering and scratching growing louder with every step. Despite the pressing need to move quickly, many of the expedition couldn't with the bags slung on their backs and the fact that the several hundred metres of tunnel they had to traverse was gently sloping downhill. The scattered dirt across the floor aided considerably but after the first dozen and the Khajiit had passed it had been crushed into a muddy slush.

Kaius and the others were following up the rear, trying their best to keep their footing even as they slid and skidded on the mushy floor. Every step was potentially treacherous but the only saving grace was that the slope was gentle. It was enough to be noticeable and difficult to run or jog upwards but enough for those who fell to slip forward a metre or two and potentially knock down their fellows. What was worse was that they were all fully aware that the tunnel split in one particular place to re-join with the other tunnels. It was this tunnel that sloped a little more aggressively through the ice that lead to the abandoned eastern tunnels and was the primary source of the increasingly loud chittering and scratching.

Guards and the others more prepared for confrontation had to be rotated through the shuffling train of men and mer and while none of them liked the fact that they had to split their forces they all obeyed Kaius' commands. He and his companions and those he believed to be the most capable fighters moved to block the passage to the abandoned tunnels while the other guards remained holding the rear. The workers and those carrying their packs continued at the gratingly slow pace while the guards twitched nervously at the approaching sounds.

"I sure hope you know what you are doing Kaius." Sofia hissed as she stood by his side.

"Would you have preferred to have sat in the rooms and waited for them to come?" Came the reply but there was no bitterness or sarcasm, only a cold, flinty edge sharp enough to cut leather.

Lydia shifted slightly, her shield strapped to her arm and axe in hand ready. All that was visible of her flesh was her mouth, chin and gleaming eyes within her spectacle helm. "How many are we facing?"

"A lot." Kaius' voice was still cold and emotionless, which somehow made his statement all the more chilling. "The Falmer tend to congregate near Dwemer Cities in the Underdark. Many of the caverns under or adjacent the cities are better for their fungus crops and have access to considerable water supplies."

"What's the best case?"

"Hundreds."

All the women fell silent for a moment until Serana licked her lips nervously. "And worst case?"

"Tens of thousands."

The chittering and sounds of the creature's approach grew louder, and Kaius and Serana growled under their breath as glimpses of movement reached their enhanced eyes. The passage to the east snaked and wormed its way through the ice but around the nearest corner several creatures loped into view. Serana especially was hissed in hatred and displeasure at the sight and her experience under the lighthouse the months before and Kaius simply gripped his sword tighter.

A cursory glance behind told him and the others all they needed to know. Less than half of the excavation members had made it past the intersection. Despite the haste instilled in them by the wave of excited chitters and squeals it would take time for them to get past.

"Go to the head of the column and tell the Khajiit to go on ahead and make sure that none of these bastards are there or between us." Kaius growled to Sofia, holding his sword in front and readying himself. "Also get some of them to come back to help us hold the line."

Partially from her rebellious streak, and partially from her desire not flee before a foe, Sofia made a face at Kaius as though she bit into a lemon. "I hope you aren't planning anything stupid…"

The faintest trace of a grin lifted the corner of his mouth. "No. You all will need me to get into the city, and I will need you and Serana to help. Unfortunately, you are the least capable of us in a fight."

Pouting despite the sheer amount of sarcasm in Kaius' tone, she knew in the back of her mind that he wasn't entirely wrong. She may have been no pushover or slouch in combat but compared to the Volkihar Vampire weaving magicka into her hands, the veteran housecarl in her armoured plate and Kaius; a literal devourer of dragon souls she was almost out of their league.

Almost, but not quite.

"Fine then, try to save some for me when I get back."

Kaius and the other two women spared her a glance and she even received a nod from Lydia of all people as she sheathed her sword and began moving down the sloped tunnel. The path was as it had been the hundreds of meters before dangerous slick and after a few moments of hesitation and listening to the increasingly shrill, warbling cries of the Falmer she put all thoughts aside and almost broke out into a run.

It was almost effective too, for the first dozen metres or so at least. The tunnel was only wide enough for three or four people to stand abreast and most were shuffling their way along the centre. She instead slipped and skidded her way along the walls, punching her dagger into the ice to help keep herself upright as she moved past the collection of increasingly pale, sweating workers moving into the glacial depths.

"Wuffles!" She called out over the sounds of fighting and ear-piercing squeals that erupted from the intersection at her back "Wuffles!"

As she approached the front of the group and the wall of fur that was moving steadily onwards, one of the enormous Khajiit turned and there was a simple pleasure on his face at the sight of her. "_Kirma_?"

J'zhar was also near to his brother and he and the other Khajiit turned at her increasingly poor-footed progress and the way she slipped and slid ungracefully for the last three metres.

"Kaius wants you all to scout between here and the Animunculory but he needs help holding the Falmer off."

The collection of growls reverberated through the tunnel and J'zhar quickly pointed to a couple of his fellows and gestured into the darkness ahead of them. Without further word the trio of Khajiit bounded off on all fours like sabrecats and the remaining five tensed up.

"What do you say brothers?" he growled around fangs as long and pointed as daggers.

"_Rakizna_!" They replied, claws unsheathing as the nearest labourers shied away and pressed themselves into the sides of the tunnel.

As an overwhelming mass of fur and muscle the Pahmar's began striding up the tunnel towards the sounds of shouting, screams and the chittering of countless Falmer. Most of the labourers were parting for them where their footing allowed them but Sofia growled as they all moved away from her.

"Oi! Don't forget about me."

Stopping in place, J'darr looked between her and his brethren moving ahead as quickly as they could manage on ice through the press of increasingly panicky humanity and whined. "J'darr doesn't want you to get hurt."

"J'darr needs to shut up and help get my butt up there." She replied, slipping on a patch of crushed ice and almost falling flat on her face.

Still whining pitifully, J'darr wasted no more time and scooped her up before she realised what was happening. What sounded like the growl of a sabrecat surged through his body and one moment she was feeling the coiling muscles under the thick coat, and the next she was holding on as tightly as she could as he surged into motion. Not bothering to move slowly or carefully, he instead pounced as easily as a kitten could if it was over three hundred kilograms and as wide as two grown men. Following in the literal pawprints of his brethren he moved up the dozens of metres of frozen tunnel into the scene of a nightmare.

The sheer numbers of the Falmer and their insectoid pets were taking a massive toll and even people such as Kaius and the others couldn't hold them at bay. In mere minutes since she had travelled down the tunnel they had swarmed from both directions. A literal horde of them were squirming and writhing their way down the tunnel defended by Kaius and the others, and on her position on J'darr's back she could look over the heads of the workers streamed down the tunnel to see that even more of them were following the tunnel down from the living quarters.

She had been in some chaotic fights before, especially some of those by Kaius' side but nothing remotely compared to this. Compressed into the suffocating confines of the tunnel man, mer and mutant fought with desperate savagery and they bled and died together. Even before she slipped off J'darr's broad shoulders and ripped her sword from her sheath, her mind was struggling to keep up.

Falmer and chaurus swarmed over men and mer, dragging them down with numbers and their victims were screaming as some of the emasculated creatures wasted no time in eating them alive. Others died horribly as weapons of chitin and bone cut deep, hacking through muscle and flesh and cleaving lives with horrible effectiveness. She saw one labourer go down shrieking with a flint tipped spear made of lashed together femurs ripped into his guts, and a miner fell backwards without a sound as the chaurus sprayed her in the chest and throat with venom after she slammed a pick into its head.

One of the chitinous horrors was ripped apart in a gory explosion as J'darr shredded it with his claws a second before he crushed a Falmer head as though it was made of eggshell. The other Khajiit were fighting in the same brutal manner that seemed at odds with the jovial, polite labourers they had been the previous month and a half. Two of them pulled apart a gigantic chaurus as though it was a chicken's wishbone, and another bit down hard on a Falmer's face and flung it about like a ragdoll.

As expected, her companions were in the thick of the fighting. Lydia was drenched in gore and the only portion of her flesh visible under the blood were her squinting eyes hidden in the depths of her helm as she killed all within reach. Her fighting axe reaped Falmer lives like wheat stalks under a farmer's scythe and many of the creatures struggled over the slippery pile she left at her feet before being added to the tally.

Serana was surrounded by a corona of energies as she called upon her extensive magical abilities. Gleaming chucks of ice detached themselves from the walls or even formed from the blood freezing on the floor and hung suspended in air before her as she flicked them about the room. The projectiles struck pallid flesh and chitinous exoskeletons with incredible force and despite their comparative size and shape to arrows they exploded bodies and heads with the force of ballista bolts. Any of the Falmer that got too close were grasped in a surge of telekinetic energies that crushed the life out them. More than one was simply picked up off the blood-slick floor, crushed into gory chunks of meat or smeared over the walls with little more than a gesture.

Further up the passage a hulking collection of bloodied ice swirled about like a tornado, its frozen limbs crushing and hacking and destroying all in its path as Serana somehow worked it like a puppet even with her constant spell casting. None of the Falmer had an answer or counter to the atronach in their midst and while they clawed and hacked at its icy hide, it continued on with the indefatigable will and might of the glacier from which it had been spawned.

Kaius was somehow the most obvious of all the combatants from a combination of being in the midst of the heaviest fighting and the source of the wall-shuddering ripples of absolute power radiating from him. His face was a mask of determination and smouldering rage as he hewed the Falmer and Chaurus with sword and the _Thu'um_. Sofia had known that his skill and knowledge of the dragon language was improving but his unwillingness to use his vampirism amongst so many witnesses had left him employing the shouts in every way he could.

_Yol_ breathed out in a gust and incinerated a pair of Falmer who shrieked and died as burning embers sizzling into the ice. With a snarling expression he twisted his blade through the dying remnants of the word, turning the black skyforge steel into a glowing redness that burned and cauterised the innards of a chaurus as it was jammed down its throat. Even before the echoes of _Yol_ and the tiny cloud of flame dissipated into the monster packed tunnel, he had twisted his blade free and another set of words ripped from his throat in a fury matching that of the world-storm on the surface. _Su Grah Dun_ didn't have an effect as obvious as _Dragonfire_ or _Unrelenting Force_ but a wind swept through the tunnels without a specific source for only a few seconds before it too died away. In that short space of time two dozen Falmer and their domesticated pets fell apart in bloody chunks in mid step, shredded by the overwhelming speed of Kaius' _Thu'um_ infused blade.

Even with such skill and power, there was no salvaging the unbridled mess that the fight had devolved into. The sheer weight of numbers and the confines of the tunnel were playing to the mindless savagery of the Falmer and everyone were being forced back.

Sofia had just enough time to see one of the _pahmars_ go down under a veritable tide of grey skinned bodies that hacked, stabbed, clawed and bit bloody chunks of fur even as the Khajiit roared and gutted them. In the space of seconds, she unconsciously registered half a dozen men and women dying or being dragged down by the shrieking horde in their undeniable lust for blood and flesh. Even the likes of the Khajiit were getting forced deeper into the tunnels by the naked savagery that their breeding couldn't contend with. Although, in J'darr's case it was only the paws of his brother physically dragging him back that kept him from being swamped and killed by the numbers.

One portion of the tunnel was blocked by a pile of corpses easily six or seven deep and horrifyingly many of the Falmer were ignoring the terrified members of the excavation and falling upon their own dead and wounded in an orgy of feeding. Limbs were ripped from torsos and blind faces and maws were pressed deep into guts even as their owners tried feebly to push them away. Whether they were surfacer or underworlder, dead or alive, it didn't matter to the horde.

"Back! Get back!" Roared a voice and shuffling backward under the tide those still remaining on their feet tried to comply despite being under to discern the speaker. Only a couple of the truly lucky wounded were being dragged backwards by their friends and comrades, while the rest were lost to sight under the writhing snapping mass of hunchbacked beings cavorting in the packed tunnel.

Finding herself side by side by the gore streaked Housecarl, Sofia too was drenched in tainted blood and insect guts from the few that she killed. Some of the Falmer were dressed in ragged armour looking very much like the hollowed-out portions of Chaurus shells but it didn't do much to protect them from the edge or point of her sword. Many were going down and those that managed to get through her defences were stopped by Lydia or by the towering J'darr keeping close to his adoptive human.

What was immediately obvious was that the survivors were cut in two, one group trapped between the Falmer swarming into the tunnel intersection and the swarm from the living quarters. Kaius was also trapped but he was almost within the heart of the intersection, holding his own against the countless numbers with a combination of incredible swordsmanship and the ceaseless chanting of Dovahzul that shook the earth and burned, froze, or otherwise assisted killing the numbers arrayed against him. It had been him who had shouted for everyone to fall back from the unstoppable advance of the Falmer, and very shortly they discovered why.

Briefly clearing a path through the press with slashing blows of his sword, he moved through the press like a man swimming upstream in the direction of the Animunculory before twisting in place and facing down the horde. Even those beings without magically attuned senses could feel the sudden surge of energies that he summoned from the core of his being and even as they reached the crescendo, he hurled them into the press.

"**_FUS RO DAH!_**"

Having been on the receiving end of _Unrelenting Force_ in the previous weeks, Sofia felt the shout in the very core of her being even though it was directed away from her. Those corrupted beings closest to Kaius ceased to exist, not so much exploding as having their physical forms removed from reality but Kaius wasn't focussing it at them. The words split the ice roof as easily as snapping a twig and the entire glacier heaved under the caress of the _Thu'um_ before collapsing in a roar.

Those at his back could only watch in spellbound horror as the tunnel that they had fought and bled and died for crashed down and filled the air with powdered ice and moisture from the immense weight that had turned ice into water. Streams of rapidly freezing blood and water mixed together underfoot but in those moments the tunnel had been utterly sealed and dozens of the Falmer were crushed into nothingness.


	10. Alftand

The ominous rumbling of the glacier faded into the depths of the earth, leaving only the faintest hints of the power that had just ripped through its guts. Slivers of ice continued falling from the ceiling and the floor was covered with an ever-expanding slurry of blood, guts and crushed bodies spreading around the soles of their boots. Everyone who had bene only moments before fighting their way free of the press of Falmer and Chaurus were stopped in place, eyes wide with horror at the man standing closest to the collapsed tunnel.

Kaius would have been standing as still as a statue if not for the way that he quickly looked at the slowly shifting ice bounders and powder threatening to continue its encroachment into their tunnel. Carefully he stabbed his blade into the ice, dragging it free and using the frozen rubble to clean the blood and gore off his sword.

No one spoke, they were too shocked at the minutes of frenzied fighting for their lives they had just experienced and the way that Kaius had used the Thu'um to seal up the tunnel. What was worse was everyone knew that despite the fact that the collapse had stopped them from being overrun with the cannibalistic monsters there had been many members of their excavation trapped on the other side of the collapsed intersection.

"Come." He said finally, breaking the stillness of creaking ice and dripping moisture. "This tunnel is not safe."

Stepping through the few surviving members who had been fighting the creatures, he didn't spare a second glance to the shocked expressions and overwhelming gazes of the others. Only his companions and the two _pahmar-raht _brothers seemed impervious to the shift in their fortunes but almost like a herd of sheep they turned and followed him deeper into the tunnel.

By the time they reached the Animunculory the handful of survivors were milling around mindlessly, looking fearfully towards the entrance carved into the ice and the still-barred passage into the city itself. Unfortunately, the fact that of the four dozen individuals who had left the living quarters only twenty minutes before had been heavily reduced to a quarter of that amount was not lost on anyone.

Especially by the likes of Sulla, who was sporting a fresh scratch down the side of his face when he had been acquainted with the Falmer before Umana had managed to come to his aid. He, like the others were a little worse for wear and not a single person in the Animunculory didn't have some form of blood or bodily fluid staining them or their clothing.

Upon seeing Kaius enter the room he rose from his seat, snarling and slapping his arms against his sides. "Congratulations are in order I suppose. You have killed us all. Was this your plan all along?"

Totally ignoring him, Kaius continued walking forward, trying fruitlessly to wipe the blood that had splattered his face as Sulla moved in his direction. "Answer me you bastard! I am still your employer…"

Without warning and as soon as they were close enough together Kaius' gloved fist lashed out and smashed Sulla off his feet. The slapping sound of the punch was loud enough to startle several people in the room and everyone's attentions were drawn to the two of them.

Kaius continued on as though nothing had happened while Sulla was left shaking his head and rubbing his face from the blow. His shock stopped him from any other form of reaction as Kaius moved towards the room and the barred off passage. "Everyone should count ourselves lucky if our end is as quick as dying in a cave-in." he said with no emotion in his voice. "We also should count ourselves very lucky that as many of us survived at all."

"You… You…" Sulla spluttered, his face growing red and contorted with rage and slapping away Umana's attempts to pick him up from the floor and brush his clothing clean of powdered ice. "How dare you!"

"Calm yourself Sulla, we're not out of this yet."

In the silence of the room it was almost audible the way that his teeth began grinding together as was the scrabbling as he struggled to his feet and began to rush Kaius from behind. Only the grim faced, blood-soaked visage of Lydia stepped between them stopped him in place.

With nothing more than a considerable amount of will, assisted by the act that Lydia's axe was still gripped tight in a mailed fist glued to the haft with gore, Sulla paused and breathed deeply. Only when his anger had subsided did the armoured Housecarl turn and follow Kaius with the others filing into the other room.

Only when everyone else had followed did he turn in place with his face twisting into a visage of hate towards Umana. "I thought you were supposed to protect me?"

Umana could only stand in shock at the sheer amount of acidic hate in her employer's words and the insane gleam forming behind his eyes. He didn't wait for an answer or for her, instead turning and stomping off forcibly in the direction of all other others.

Their numbers had been entirely decimated, and Kaius could only stand in the room and feel uneasy at how many they had just lost. Only a fraction of the original members remained and a large number were wounded and feeling the effects of limited rations over the previous weeks. Every face was haggard and drawn, pinched by cold and starvation and their ordeal was progressively becoming worse.

His eyes roamed, seeing the way that Sofia was favouring a leg from where a chunk of ice had struck her and how Serana was still trying to control her breathing from the magicka she had called upon during the fight. Only Lydia of his companions looked fresh and ready to continue fighting but he could tell that her exhaustion was slowly reaching breaking point. Of the original eleven Khajiit Labourers, only five of them remained. J'darr and J'zhar were covered in blood and gore and sporting fresh injuries in comparison to the other three who appeared fresh and clean. All of the others had been lost to the swarm and the tunnel collapse.

Most of the labourers, workers and guards had also been wiped out and for a moment Kaius found himself hoping that any on the other side of the cave in had died under the ice. The alternative was not something he could wish on anyone with the exception of the Thalmor. Besides his companions, only Sulla, Umana and eleven others had made it so far, and three of those others had been the guards who had been stationed within the Animunculory at the time. Twenty souls trapped in the heart of a glacier with only the food they some had managed to carry on their backs and most injured in some degree, it seemed to be a doom proposition to begin with.

"I want a tally of how much food we have with us, and a list of whatever other supplies we have." He said simply after briefly clearing his throat. "Anyone with injuries are to have them tended with no exceptions. The Falmer use numerous poisons and toxins on their weapons so if anyone begins feeling sick or faint over the coming hours you are to notify me immediately."

"What are we going to do?" Called out one of the labourers and Kaius recognised the heavy set Draghal looking very close to the edge of utter panic.

Trying his best to smile confidently, Kaius looked at the man and gestured to the bars at his back. "We need to get into the city. It's only a matter of time before the Falmer dig fresh tunnels. In the city at least, we will have places to hide."

"But it's going to be filled with Automatons… and traps… What if those things have overrun the city?"

Sofia and the others could hear the strange tone infusing Kaius' voice as he spoke and it somehow gave them chills that had nothing to do with their situation. Unknown to anyone else the flesh of his face was tightening from more than just cold and malnutrition and the growl in his tone was that of the vampire.

"If the Falmer were in control over the city, we wouldn't have been encountering the Automatons these past weeks. It's not going to be entirely safe, but the Dwemer machines won't be actively looking for us, and even if they were, they would only kill us, not eat us."

Somehow there was a surge of calm infuse everyone in the room and only Serana stared daggers at Kaius as he used his dark charisma to their benefit. With a few words and gestures the survivors went about their tasks before he motioned for his companions to join him near the bars.

"Remember what we discussed a few days ago?" he asked as they moved closer, and Sofia could feel trepidation leeching into her mind.

"About getting into the city?"

"Yes." The only sign of his nervousness was the way that he fingered the hilt of his blade, sliding it a few centimetres out of its sheath to test its edge with a thumb. "I'm going to need you and Serana to cast a ward each just inside of the bars. Enough space for someone to stand. Then, once I'm inside you will need to sustain the wards as I move to the lever."

Both their eyes and Lydia's looked through the thick steam filling the passage. The broken pipe spewing steam was directly covering a wide area around the lever but with a bit of care the passage was traversable.

"Kaius… This is…"

"Dangerous and crazy?" He laughed but it sounded hollow. "I know."

"Wards are not going to do much to stop the steam." Serana added. "They block magicka and elemental forces like flames, not hot water."

"I know, probably better than most. I just hope that the wards will lessen the steam long enough for me to pull the lever." Awkward silence fell and his nervousness became slightly visible for a moment. "And I also hope that the lever actually opens the bars and doesn't activate traps instead."

"Traps?"

Ignoring Serana's concerned query, he turned and moved over towards the bars. "Anyway, there's no time like the present."

Taking a few moments to ready himself and for the women to move either side of him, proceeded to wrap his scarf around his head as thickly he could manage before pulling his hood over his head. It was bulky and uncomfortable looking but every centimetre of flesh was covered except for his eyes.

"This is not going to be pleasant." He muttered, giving both women and nod and watching the blueish energies spark into life a metre beyond the bars and steading his breathing. Closing his eyes for a briefest of moments he breathed in deeply. "_Meyz Feim Gram._"

To the utter shock and surprise of everyone watching, even those out of the corners of his eyes his entire body, clothing, equipment and weapons shredded apart into a cloud of roiling steam. Several of the witnesses shifted uncomfortably and there were exclamations of surprise and horror at the way that he seemed to burst into a cloud and shift forward through the bars. Only Sofia and Serana, standing so close to him could feel the unnatural energies ripple away from him instead of the stomach-punch of Dovahzul that usually came with his use of the language. It was obvious to them, and them alone that whatever had just happened was not his ability to use the Thu'um but something far darker and corrupt.

As quickly as he had shifted forms he had returned to human, but this time on the far side of the bars and bitterly swearing and groaning. The wards cast by the two women had assisted in keeping back a large amount of the drifting steam and mist but returning to human form in the mild cloud was still obviously painful.

Without wasting any time at all he began moving deeper into the tunnel, surrounded by the crackling energies as Sofia and Serana shifted their stances and willed their wards to move further away. Already the strain was leaving them clenching their teeth in concentration, dragging every scrap of their mental energies to the forefront of their minds to do something that no college-trained mage would have ever considered possible.

Kaius soon went from moving carefully to running as the steam got thicker. Already his outer layers were gleaming and becoming soaked in the spray, and judging by his wincing the temperature was also increasing exponentially. His scarf and hood were saving him from the most of spray from touching his face but with one hand warding it off from his eyes he was struggling to hold the ward up with magicka of his own.

The last three metres appeared to be the worst and with sweat erupting on their foreheads and down their spines, Sofia and Serana groaned in sympathy as the force of projecting such magicka such a distance stabbed deep into their beings. Kaius was groaning and growling with his own agonies as the scalding steam quickly soaked through to his flesh and began burning everything it touched.

With a final burst of effort, he hurled himself forward, grasping the lever with first one hand, and then both as he tried to force it down for the first time in three thousand years. Struggling to breathe and being scalded through his thick clothing he roared and growled with the effort needed to put aside his pain and agony and wrench the lever down. There was an audible click even over the hissing steam and burst pipes and then the scraping, growling roar of stone on metal echoed through the passage and rooms.

From the outside inwards, the bars _slickkked_ in pairs into the floor and ceiling and within seconds the passage was open to the disbelief of everyone within the room. The amazement soon gave way to horror as Kaius began screaming, running and scrabbling his way further into the passage out of the reach of the boiling water.

Sofia, Serana and Lydia began moving almost before the bars had finished retracting into the stonework, rushing forward and minding the billowing clouds of scalding mist to reach Kaius. He had managed to stagger and crawl over a dozen metres away from the broken pipes and while his clothing and armour had protected him it hadn't been capable of stopping burns.

"No. No!" he hissed through clenched teeth behind the scarf still wrapped firmly around his head as Sofia went to remove it. "Don't!"

Steam was rising off his body from where the water had soaked him and his gloved hand gripped Sofia's hand as she went to grasp the scarf despite his protests. The hold he had on her hand threatened to break bones before he relaxed, rolling onto his back and groaning in agony.

Utterly lost for words, Sofia and Lydia looked at the way that steam was still rising from him and they could feel the heat coming off him. All that was visible was his eyes but every time he closed them the redness of his flesh was obvious.

Shoving them out of the way, Serana was hissing with her own displeasure as a swirl of magicka in the palm of her hand made itself felt in their minds. "Some of the clothing may be stuck into the wounds." She said in way of an explanation, casting a mild frost spell to steal away some of the heat while shaking her head in the direction of the passage's entrance. "We need water, lots of it."

Taking the hint, the other two women moved in the direction of the survivors cautiously moving forward into the open tunnel as though they couldn't believe that the city was finally opened. With deft hands, Serana quickly cooled off the boiling water where it had obviously soaked through the flesh underneath and with several waterskins she began the process of lifting the scarf and hood from where it had adhered to Kaius' burns.

In ones and twos, the survivors picked up their equipment and possessions and began filing through the mist filled corridor, their amazement for the moment stealing away the thoughts of Falmer and the deaths of their collegues. Only one person hung back to be the very last to step through, eyes glittering with greed and triumph as he stood in the threshold. With a single step of his expensive boots Sulla sighed with pleasure before a smile consumed his face that everyone was too preoccupied to notice.

* * *

Serana and Sofia's magical assistance had gone some way towards lessening Kaius' injuries but they were still considerable. Only his previous experience of suffering terrible injuries and his vampiric nature seemed capable of shrugging off the worst of the pain and debilitating injuries until Serana's and his own magicka assisted in the healing. One side of his face was red and inflamed, blisters and weeping pustules already visible where the steam had soaked through and Serana and the others had to carefully peel the scarf away lest it lifted the burned flesh with it.

Assisted in walking by Lydia, he and the others led the way into the city through what was soon revealed to be a service tunnel to the Animunculory. Several branching paths seemed to reach similar forge laboratories built close by but none of them appeared to have been made for the same reason as the ruined workshops where they had entered. Several appeared to be dedicated for the creation or manufacture of the various automaton parts such as arms or the unfathomable internal components, while others specialised in the armoured exterior plating. The Animunculories were simply smaller parts in a much greater facility and it was only when they found their way out that they realised just how large it was.

Built into the walls of a massive cavern within the rock, the Animunculi workshops and forges stretched across a full two hundred metres and stood over six stories tall. What they all weren't expecting was to find themselves gazing upon the City with their naked eyes.

Alftand was enormous and unlike any surface city any of them had seen before. Most of the city was built into the solid rock but the central cavern was several hundred metres wide and carved out in a shape of a dome. Enormous pillars and curved supports of Dwemer metal and stone had been built to support the roof and keep the weight of the glacier at bay. The interior was opened and from their position at the entrance to the Animunculories they could look out over the hundreds of buildings built in perfect lines and patterns throughout the cavern.

Most were only several stories tall and the tallest were little more than five or six and built in clusters. For those among the survivors who had experienced Markarth there was an obvious similarity in design and layout but instead of being built into a dead-end canyon, Alftand was built within the rock itself. Some of the clusters of buildings were situated around one of the several giant pillars reaching up, and through the rocky ceiling to the glacier above. These were obviously supporting the enormous weight but they were not solid pillars and most were dotted with windows and spiralling ramps.

There was a strange sensation of symmetry in the circular cavern but it was also impossible to tell where the natural cavern ended and the Dwemer made portions began. Roads and paths connected everything together and at first glance nothing seemed out of place in the architectural marvel that was the Dwemer City but the more they looked the more its ancient nature was noticeable.

Cracks had long since formed in the arching ceiling, and compressed from the billions of tonnes of glacier ice had forced its way through where gigantic stalactites hung ominously. Some were as large as buildings from where the cracks were equally large, but it was difficult to see portions of the ceiling that wasn't covered in icicles and stalactites.

The rest of the city was almost untouched other than the obvious whitening of rooftops under some of the larger cracks but otherwise the city had remained unchanged throughout the millennia. Unfathomable machinery ranging from gears and pistons continued churning from their positions on buildings and hundreds of valves and opened pipe mouths vented steam into the air. From the frozen chill of the tunnels, the sudden rush of heat and humidity was enough to steal away the breath even more than the incredible vista arrayed before them.

It wasn't the buildings or the size of the cavern that truly held the attention but instead the enormous globe hanging from the direct centre. Appears as though forged form hundreds of cogs, gears and other whirring parts it was a dozen metres wide and formed the nexus of the dozens of fat bodies pipes leading up the dome walls and ceiling. Some were cracked and broken from the ice pushing through the stonework, but the others continued feeding the strange mechanism with power as it rumbled and churned. It was this hunk of machinery that bathed the cavern in light, the impossible shapes and patterns moving across its surface drawing the eye due to the complexity of the mechanical dance. Pistons and gears would shift and move, slowly twisting and rotating it and every few seconds the entire surface would change and components would sink in amongst their fellows in a constant surge.

"Amazing." Serana muttered, eyes reflecting the twinkling lights of the giant mechanical sun, and many of the others were stuck in place as well. Some were casting their gazes across the city with the fear and terror of the previous hour momentarily forgotten.

"We need to move." The growl from Kaius revealed some of the pain that he felt at the series of burns down the side of his face and neck. By the way that he was hesitant in moving one of his arms it was also obvious that under his armour and clothing he had many more hidden.

Turning about the group he looked over the huddle of wide eyed survivors staring out over the city and gestured to some with his good hand. The Khajiit were among the number he gestured to and they moved over to him without hesitation.

"Move on ahead and scout out somewhere for us to rest. Unless I'm mistaken that sun-thing is going to start going dark very soon and we're too exposed. Find a house or the like but make sure you aren't spotted by any of the Animunculi."

"We will be as sneaky as a _Suthay_." One of them growled, and the trio of smaller _Pahmar_ moved on down the ramp towards the city. With some form of unspoken communication, the two _rhat_ brothers remained behind to help bolster the number of capable fighters in the group.

Seeing the way that Kaius hunched over with every step, Sofia moved closer to him. "You're badly injured, aren't you?"

Glancing back to the other of the group beginning to make their way down the ramp, Kaius shrugged off Lydia's offered arm and forced himself to stand upright "I am. Times like this make me thankful that I heal really quickly."

Sofia caught the way that Serana's lips pursed at his words and the meaning behind them even as he coughed and spat a mouthful of blood.

"We can rest here for a few minutes. Until you a feeling a bit better."

"We don't have a few minutes." Wiping the blood on the back of a hand that was just as covered with Falmer blood that the spraying steam had done little to wash away he began staggering along with the others. "The Falmer and their pets will dig through the cave in and as it's ice, I doubt it'll take them very long. We have to get deeper into the city, find somewhere to hole up for a day or at least until we find a way out of here."

"Are you going to be okay though?"

He recognised her concern and smiled with a mouthful of pink teeth. "I'll be fine. I think my lungs are a little singed but I've had worse."

"That's the understatement of the Era." Serana added with her own grin and hints of concern as they all descended the winding ramp.

The base of the ramp connected directly to one of the main arterial roads running throughout the city and one of the first things that they all noticed was that despite the frozen ceiling no ice or snow could be found anywhere. They were also entirely clean of all traces of dust or dirt, no grime and in many cases the bands of metal securing everything together gleamed with cleanliness as though recently polished. Answers were only found when they pushed several blocks deeper into the city and came across the same scuttling spiders that had attacked them in the weeks previous.

Surprisingly enough, these Animunculi paid the ragged group little heed, moving about the streets with single minded determination and ignoring almost everything around them. It was only when they all came across a pile of ice that had broek away from the ceiling and crashed into the road that the spiders' purpose was discerned. A small group of them were twitching and clawing their way over the ice that only slightly taller than the spiders themselves. Their razor-sharp legs dug and scraped away at the pile, their segmented bodies lowering themselves close to the ground and literally chewing into the ice with their mechanical mouths. Ice, rocks and dirt were shovelled into the roaring furnace that was their guts, breaking the rubble down into nothing with the contained heat.

Leaving the spiders to their work, they continued on deeper into the city, marvelling at the sights but fearful of what the city contained. Thankfully the various active Animunculi were not stealthy and the metallic clanks, thuds, clicking and even hissing of steam was audible well before they were encountered. One instance, following the brief reappearance of one of the Khajiit scouts the entire group moved into one of the smaller alleyways at the _pahmar's _insistence. They all knelt in fearful silence as the stomping clanks and grinding of gears approached and continued on without pause as a dozen or more automatons moved past. Every general of every military within Tamriel would have sacrificed loved ones for soldiers that moved with such impossible discipline and precision. For the group the tense expression of dread on Kaius' face was more than enough to convince them that they didn't want to see whatever things had moved past.

The light of the replica sun burning in the ceiling had quickly dimmed with every minute that passed and just as they all began to fear what such an unnatural night would bring one of the Khajiit returned. Despite the differences in cultures and species, the expression on the Khajiit's face was understandable to everyone and was a mixture of unease and triumph.

"We have found something you need to see." He practically growled.

* * *

Three millennia prior, the building that the group claimed for the evening may have been the equivalent of a mansion for the Dwemer who lived in it. For the survivors it was enormous, opulent in design and with more than enough room for them all. Rooms branched out from the central hall, stairs connected all three stories together and pleasantly surprising the various waterpipes and outlets still worked and provided water.

What was the more surprising was that this particular building had a living inhabitant. The Khajiit had been looking for defensible places and the Dwemer mansion had provided as such with only a single entrance and no windows on the ground floor. Within seconds on entering the building the scout had caught the scent of flesh and blood on the air, sought out the source and had immediately gone for help.

Sofia and the others pushed through the door under the watchful eye of the Khajiit who had discovered the mansion and were immediately assaulted by the smell of blood and rot. It was sickly sweet and enough to make them gag even before they laid eyes on the source.

"It's good to see you all." Rasped the figure laying on the cold stone block that passed for a bed within the room. What passed for mattresses and bedcovers had long since rotted away into nothing. There was a sickening chuckle as Endrast tried to clear his throat that turned into the groan of pain.

The irony in his words were thick, as was the strange glassiness of his eyes as Sofia moved over and knelt by his side. There was no doubt that the smell of sickness was coming from him, as he was unnaturally pale, shaking and sweating under the grip of a powerful fever. His flesh was mottled and his clothes were ripped in several places where he had attempted to turn them into bandages for the wounds he had sustained. The fact that he was still obviously wearing his nightclothes from when he disappeared added a further strangeness to the entire situation.

"You don't look so good." Sofia muttered as she rested her hand on his arm, feeling the way that he instinctively twitched at the unexpected contact while looking into eyes that were sightless and unseeing.

"I have honestly felt better." Another cough shuddered through his chest and his hand came to rest on hers and it was impossible not to feel the unnatural heat of the infection flowing through his veins.

Kaius carefully hunched over the aging explorer, lifting up some of the makeshift bandages and strips of cloth that Endrast had attempted to cover the wound in his shoulder. The fresh wave of smell was enough to crinkle his nose with distaste but there was no mistaking the shake of his head to the others in the room.

Besides Sofia and Kaius, Serana was also present looking somewhat pale and the shadowed forms of Sulla and Umana were standing to the side, looking at the other original member of their expedition.

"What happened?" Sofia asked, her voice so quiet it was almost impossible to hear above Endrast's rough breathing.

"We got taken by a group of strange creatures." He rasped, forcing the words from his chest even as he shivered under Kaius' cloak. "They came in from the tunnels and dragged us off before we realised what was happening. Antorus was killed during the initial struggle but they dragged his body back with us. There's tunnels all through the glacier leading into the city and they took us back…" his voice cracked for a moment and he visably shook from something other than the infection eating its way through him. "They took us back to their nest."

"How large is it?" Kaius asked softly, his voice cold despite the softening of his expression.

The milky whiteness of Endrast's eyes moved in the direction of Kaius voice as he tried and failed to shrug. "I don't know. They simply threw us in these pen things and almost forgot about us. There were others of their kind locked up in there, and they seemed simply content with feeding us this mushy paste. It tastes as bad as it smells and it also has the unfortunate effect of making you go blind."

"But you escaped at least."

Again, his sightless eyes turned to Sofia and she could tell that he wasn't entirely blind. He was able to focus on movement within a close distance but it was still limited. "I did my dear. Managed to sneak out of the cages and run but I'm not as spry as I used to be."

A glance was all that was needed to see the rotten tissue of his shoulder and Kaius' careful movements resulted in drawing out a chunk of flint carved into the shape of an arrowhead. The fact that it simply came out of the rotting mass without any effort at all was enough to show just how bad the wound was.

"How many were there in the pens?" Kaius asked, his voice low as he looked over the flint and the sliver of snapped off bone that was the crude shaft.

"Besides myself? Two humans that I knew for certain." He paused and groaned in agony for a moment and tried his best to stop shivering. "There was a dozen or more of their wretched kind locked up with the rest of us but I could hear others on the other side of the market. I…I don't know exactly how many."

The dark expression on Kaius' face was enough to tell Sofia and Serana his thoughts as they listened to Endrast. As the two with intimate knowledge of Falmer pens, they knew all too well what awaited anyone in them.

"They eat people you know." Endrast muttered, sighing and his eyes fluttering for a few moments. "I saw them before my eyesight started failing. One of the guards… Raflvaar I think, tried to fight his way out. They… They ripped him apart."

Kaius gently patted him on the back and shook his head at Sofia's questioning stare. "Where is their nest?"

"Are you planning on saving the others?" The faintest hint of hope in Endrast's voice was almost more painful than looking at his injuries.

"Yes."

"Good. Get them out of there. All of them. The nest is in the south eastern portion of the city where the ice has broken through the walls. They've carved their way in near the giant cathedral."

"Cathedral?" Sofia asked simply, her hand still on his.

"It's the only way I can explain it. It's a giant structure, ringed with walls and built into the edge of the city. You can't miss it." Slowly, he tried to lift himself up, shuddering with the effort and sweating even more than before. "I have a request to make."

Looking him in the eyes and still feeling the heat from his flesh, Sofia gave him a smile that she wasn't sure he could see. "What is it?"

For several seconds his mouth opened and closed as he struggled to force the words out of his mouth. "I… I want you to take my life."

The silence that filled the room had a leaden quality all of its own and he turned his head about as though attempting to look between them all. "You know as well as I do that I'm finished. Especially if you go back to the nest, you cannot burden yourselves with a blind man who's dying anyway. Besides…" A faint smile appeared on his face despite the way his voice trembled. "I want to die on my own terms, and not by a putrid arrow in the back."

The shock on everyone's faces was obvious, and for a moment no one moved. Sofia chewed her lip in concentration for a moment and looking into the flushed features of the man she had worked alongside for suc a brief period of time even as Kaius shifted forward, his hand falling to his dagger and drawing it.

"Wait." She whispered, so quietly that she thought that no one else could hear until Endrast's poisoned eyes turned from the sound of metal on leather to her.

"I…" breathing heavily she closed her eyes for a heartbeat. "I'll do it."

Endrast's fatherly expression changed to one of utter relief and his smile could not be wiped away. "Thank you my dear."

He was still smiling as she drew her own dagger, the leathery scraping as loud and jarring as Kaius' _Thu'um_ and yet being threatened to be drowned out by her own thunderous heart. Slowly she shifted closer, moving over and sitting on the stone Dwemer bed that had been stained in sweat, blood and bodily fluids.

"You know…" The aged explorer wistfully said through the shakes and tremors of the fever raging through his body. "If I was home in Valenwood, my friends and family would have ritualistically consumed me? It's funny how perspective sours certain things."

As Sofia's hand came to rest on his shoulder with an affectionate pat, he fell silent and momentarily clenched his jaw before relaxing. The tip of her dagger pressed into his side just enough that he could feel it through his thin shirt and he was still smiling at her.

Keeping her face as cold as the glacier entombing them, she gripped his shoulder and jammed the blade in deep. Endrast flinched and his whole body went rigid, his muscles seizing just long enough for a sigh to rattle itself free. Then, he fell limp as though he was a puppet with his strings cut and he was no more.

Struggling to decide where to wipe her blade clean, Sofia struggled to keep her face neutral and blank and not show the overwhelming wave of emotions that swirled through her mind. The past day had been too much to take in or understand, too raw and visceral and she knew in the tiny quiet portion of her mind that she was succumbing to shock just like everyone else. The fact that she had just taken the life of one of the only few men who had treated her as something was threatening to be the straw to break the destrier's back.

Kaius at least, and Serana in her own way understood what she was feeling and as he rose from the still body, he briefly gripped her shoulder tight enough for the lingering threat of bruising to remain. At that moment she didn't know what to do or what she should do and instead felt the blood that coated her from the Falmer she had killed and the strangely tingling gore of the Chaurus that J'darr had explosively killed near her. Endrast hadn't been the first people she had every killed by a considerable margin but he was certainly the first mercy killing she had ever performed.

What was worse was the disquieted voice in the back of her mind warning her that it was increasingly likely that he wouldn't be the last and that she could only hope that she'd receive the same in similar circumstances. As she rose to her feet and tried desperately to fend off the shakes that she tried to convince herself was the result of not having a drink in three days she found herself staring at Sulla near the door. Since they had entered the room he had hung back without a single word to or for Endrast at all, and in comparison to Umana's grief stricken features, his own expression was blood chilling.

Unlike the sorrow, stress and fear that everyone else was experienced, Sulla wore an expression of triumph, and looked down on Endrast's body with a smile. Somehow it was that brief expression that proved to be more terrifying than the prospect of being eaten alive by a bloodthirsty horde of starved cannibals and Sofia found gripped the hilt of her sword until her knuckles went white.


	11. The Mansion

For hiding places, the Dwemer mansion was certainly one of the better ones that Sofia had found herself in, but no matter how well it kept them from the claws and teeth of the Falmer it couldn't hide her away from her feelings. It was certainly spacious enough, the three stories and various rooms providing more than enough space for the survivors to make themselves as comfortable as they could. Each room for the most part soon found itself playing host to a handful of individuals laying themselves out on the floors or the stone beds and tables with little more than rolled up cloaks and furs for pillows and blankets.

Some of the rooms were untouched, but not because of potential threats. The entry hall encompassing the only doors and the staircases only had those chosen to be on guard, and other rooms didn't have anyone at all. Endrast's hideaway was closed up after they had left, turning the room into a private mausoleum for the explorer and surprisingly enough the main dining hall was also left vacant.

Sofia couldn't blame everyone for shying away from that room as there was something incredibly unsettling about the way how the plates and cutlery were still arranged as though in mid meal. Three thousand years had left nothing more than a mild layer of dust from the strangely sterile environment of the Dwemer structures but the collection of plates in front of each of the seats were difficult to look at. The two smaller plates towards the end of one table with their knives and forks appearing dumped in place gave her a creeping sensation up the spine.

It was these details that she decided made her hate the Dwemer cities. Time had stripped away almost every trace of the ancient race but it was the little details that spoke volumes. Details such as the arrangement of plates or the Animunculory tools sitting as though waiting for their original owners to appear and pick up where they had left off spoke more about the Dwemer's disappearance than if they had come across bodies and signs of violence.

Taking Endrast's life continued to play on her mind the more she tried to ignore it and while most had found a spot of floor to curl up and fall into a troubled sleep, she wandered the mansion. Some appeared capable of sleeping anywhere and no matter their situation, but most tossed and turned and called out as they relived their fears and terrors of the previous day and weeks. Every so often someone would startle themselves awake and rouse those nearest to them, eliciting a chorus of concerned hisses from the others. Some, including the whip-thin labourer Tildnar and the miner Draghal were finding solace in a very close form of companionship. Judging by Tildnar's moans she was very much enjoying the brief reprieve of horrors and terror.

For Sofia, her usual, and personal choice of alcohol and a warm body to wrap herself around was not going to be enough. Alcohol was certainly out of the picture, as she had less than half a bottle rolling around in her pack, and she was certain that many of the others hadn't grabbed alcohol in the rush. As for finding someone to sleep away the tension she wasn't sure whether she could handle intimacy as every time she closed her eyes, she could see Endrast's pained expression changing into relief as her dagger entered his heart. It also wasn't helping that she would have sworn on the name of every deity that she could still smell the necrosis and gangrene of his arrow wound.

Night had fallen across the city strangely enough, the giant replica sun of gears and cogs slowing down and reducing its glow into an unnatural twilight. The interior of the mansion was illuminated by the series of crystals hanging from chandelier arrangements in the larger rooms and others installed behind metal grills in the smaller. Like all things Dwemer they reeked of something strange and unnatural, as though their very existence was bending the laws of reality but they were enough to ensure that she did tumble down the stairs or walk into a wall.

It was enough though to see into the various rooms and the huddling figures under their scavenged blankets. Some were tossing and turning, but as she moved past one room, she saw the strange twitching of the enormous figure within and could easily hear a snuffling, grunting noise.

Despite her instincts she stepped closer, standing in the doorway and seeing the way that J'darr was curled up into the smallest ball possible as though he was a kitten instead of a sabrecat sized brute. For a creature that outweighed her almost six times over it was almost freakish that he was curled up in such a way, appearing wounded and distressed as though he was still a cub.

Gleaming in the shadows, the hunched form of his brother turned to Sofia and all she could see was the other _pahmar-rhat's_ silhouette and the glowing reflections of his eyes. It was something that never failed to give her shivers up her spine at the predatory visible of their eyes glowing in the darkness but J'zhar motioned for her to enter.

"_Ja'fith khaja, Kirma_." He whispered as softly as he could. His brother remained curled up and as she stepped forward, she could see that there were no glints of his eyes.

"Hey J'zhar. Are you two okay?"

"I am fine." There was a semblance of a smile on his face but a shadow dwelled within it. "My brother still suffers nightmares it seems."

"After a day like today I would be worried about anyone who _doesn't_." She replied, moving over and kneeling next to her furred friend. "Are they the same dreams as he was having earlier?"

J'zhar's silence said much as his enormous paw rested on his brother's shoulders, slowly smoothing his fur. "It appears that my brother is not as crazy as everyone thought." His sigh was deep and rumbled through the floor like a mixture of a purr and a growl. "Or as crazy as I thought."

"If I had met the two of you and heard you saying things about eyeless creatures coming out of the walls three or four months ago, I would've thought you all were nuts myself."

"You knew about these… _Owazmer_ before today."

His words were a statement rather than a question and she nodded. "We encountered them ourselves recently, but Kaius… Kaius has a lot more experience with them."

"I know." Slowly moving up and down, J'zhar's paw continued smoothing J'darr's fur in the same spot as he slept. "No one acts so calmly when faced with such things unless they have faced them before."

Sofia's eyes watched the repetitive motion of the enormous Khajiit petting his sleeping brother and saw how J'darr was shivering in his sleep. "J'darr has an addiction… Doesn't he?"

She was expecting anger, shock or outright denial of her statement but instead J'zhar sighed again and looked at his brother. "Yes."

"Skooma?"

There was a nod. "Yes. We originally joined this expedition so I could wean him off the poison gradually and ensure he didn't relapse. It's a terrible toxin _Kirma_… One that drives many Khajiit from their own minds and against their kin. J'darr has been addicted since he was very young, and once a _pahmar_ is corrupted it is difficult to remove."

Continuing to stroke J'darr's fur, J'zhar rumbled again, this time the sigh was much more of a growl. "I had planned his usage almost down to the last drop, but the crates are among those stuck in the storm. Now I don't know what I will do."

Twitching and shaking for a few moments, J'darr stirred before pressing his head under a paw. "_Shabozay an viti dena hagi di zivsho__…_" He muttered before his breathing returned to something akin to normal and he settled once more.

"Another nightmare?" Sofia asked.

J'zhar nodded. "These past days they have changed from the _Owazmer_ to something else. I don't know what to make of them _Kirma_, but I'm not longer going to ignore them as I have."

"Hopefully we all live long enough to find out what he sees." Her own hand moved across and stroked J'darr's flank and she could feel the way he was shaking. Surprisingly enough it was extremely calming for herself and she was able to concentrate on something more than her own thoughts or the twisted yearning of her own addiction. Like J'darr, she knew somewhat of what it was like to starve of an addiction but something so small and personal disappeared into the darkness of the night when faced with the horrors of their immediate future.

* * *

Sitting with his back into one side of a window frame with a foot jammed into the opposite corner, Kaius appeared calm and at ease if not for the way that his face was taut in the dim light of the Dwemer city. Darkness was swirling in his eyes as he looked over the city trapped under the snow and stone, but other than the soft rise and fall of his chest and the steady tapping of his fingers against an armoured knee he was as still as the building itself.

For her own part, Serana was sitting a few metres away in an ancient armchair made of carved stone. To anyone else the strange dimensions of the chair would have left them thinking of how the Dwemer would have been of unusual size. It had been literal millennia since they had existed but she could remember the rare times that she had personally met the Dwemer in her father's court. They had been aloof and cold individuals but not that different to the various other mer that currently existed throughout Tamriel. The chairs were uncomfortable and the armrests were too high because whatever passed for cushions had long since rotted and turned to dust.

Ever since the unnatural night had fallen across the city and after Endrast had been mercifully freed from his pain Kaius had been sitting in the window. Serana knew better than to assume that he was simply taking in the sights, but instead was watching and studying, thinking and planning their next moves. It was no secret that their food supplies were ridiculously low, days at most and Kaius had ordered that everyone eat their fill for dinner. As much as having full bellies had assisted in coping with the terrors of the day and replenishing their reserves of energy, it was obvious that many of their number considered the meal as their last.

"When was the last time you slept?"

Kaius turned and spared her a glance from his seat, not taking his eyes off the vista before him for more than a second. "Three or four days ago."

"Shouldn't you get some rest then?"

The faintest hint of a smile curled his cheek before he turned away from her. "Eventually. I will be fine for another day or so."

Standing up and moving over towards him, Serana moved in complete silence not to stir Lydia who was curled up in the corner of the room. The housecarl was one of the few people amongst the survivors who seemed impervious to the situation they were in but Serana knew that under the cold surface she was just as terrified as the rest of them. Lydia was just better at hiding her true emotions and continuing on as though nothing untoward was happening.

In many ways she envied the housecarl. For weeks now, especially since the arrival of the storm she had been struggling with her own terrors and the increasingly urgent growls and yearnings of the vampire within her. The worse the situation became the greater and more pressing the desires were and she knew that it wouldn't take much for it to take control as it had at the Lighthouse.

He shifted on his perch, allowing her sit down on the other side of the window. The light streaming in from the Dwemer machine-sun was tinted a strangely soothing blue from the enormous crystal that had been revealed once the glowing plates and mechanical innards had slid away. During the 'days' as such, it was the shifting, superheated metal that provided a more 'natural' light and warmth but the nights were just as cold and alien as the rest of the city.

"What are you looking for?"

Smiling and revealing the hint of fang under the twisted burns, he continued looking over the city. "A way out of this mess."

"Any luck?"

This time he sighed instead of smiling but Serana could see the way that his cheekbones were prominent in his face that had nothing to do with their poor diet. "Not yet. Besides, we can't leave the city right away."

"Because of the nest?"

"Yeah. Some of the others may have been captured and we owe it to them not to let them be eaten."

Silence fell between the two vampires and Serana leaned back, resting her head on the cool stone of the window frame and looked up at the glowing crystal. The city was peaceful enough but horrors and death were waiting just below the visible surface.

Watching the way that she turned her head Kaius nodded in the direction they were now mutually looking. "You can hear them too…"

"Do you mean the Falmer, or the Animunculi?"

"Both."

Listening carefully to the city, she pushed through the ambient noise of cogs and gears moving about and the hissing of escaping steam from the hundreds of vents and pipes. Dwemer cities were neither quieter or noisier than other cities throughout Tamriel; they were just different. In a city such as Solitude, Whiterun or even Winterhold there was always noise. Dogs and animals, the sound of wind moaning through the buildings and the background noise of hundreds or even thousands of people going about their lives at all hours. Dwemer cities echoed with the sounds of metal striking metal like the hints of distance forges and the hissing and clanking permeated through everything.

Pushing through this outer layer of sound, Serana could sense and hear more. On the far side of the city there was the hissing and clicking of what could only be the Falmer and she tried not to feel their clammy hands and fingers grasping at her through the weight of her memories. Only Kaius and herself could do something as simple as listening to an entire city and tell that there were thousands of the mutated creatures infesting a portion of it. The north eastern section of the city had been partially destroyed from the press of the glacier crushing its way inside the rocky dome. In amongst the hundreds of thousands of tonnes of collapsed ice and the broken remains of buildings a veritable hive existed far from the prying eyes of the surfacers.

The city itself though was almost a living thing despite the fact that they were all the first flesh and blood beings other than Falmer and their insect livestock to enter it in thousands of years. It may have appeared as still and quiet as a tomb but she could hear the Animunculi moving about.

Scratching and chittering, the Spiders going about their tasks were easy to hear, but the others were much harder to identify. Some whirred and hissed with steam, their passage along the roads sounding like a metal ball being spun along the ground. Others though were somehow ominous and conveyed threat the same way as the Khajiit growled. There was no way that she _couldn't_ hear them, the heavy treads of their footfalls echoing along with the _whirr ker-clank… whirr ker-clank_ as they moved. If she concentrated, truly concentrated she believed that she could almost feel them move along the streets as they continued their endless vigil.

"There's a lot of them."

Kaius nodded and growled softly. There was nothing human within the sound and despite being a vampire herself Serana could feel its primal nature. "Too many. Even for us."

"So, what are we going to do?"

A hand, the tip slightly pointed with a talon gestured in the direction of the collapsed portion of the city and the hidden Falmer infestation. "We enter the nest, find anyone who is still alive and leave the city."

"Leave? How? And go where?"

The talon moved slightly to the left, a marginal distance from where they sat but a distance of hundreds of metres through building lined streets within the city. "Endrast mentioned the cathedral, and that to me looks like it." as though he was caressing his hand up the side of a lover, he motioned to the towering edifice marking the southernmost extremity of the city. "That certainly looks like one, but knowing the Dwemer its probably more of a fortress or the like. With any luck it'll be the major gate to Blackreach, and then at least we will have a chance of surviving."

"You don't exactly inspire confidence at the moment Kaius."

His expression softened and more of the man was revealed through the hard-boned features. "We are in the worst shit I have ever experienced and that's saying something. If and when we get into the Underdark we will have a chance at least but it's a miniscule one."

"What's the plan then?"

"In the morning we will all go to the nest and try to get in without alerting them to our presence. We rescue everyone we can and make our way to the cathedral."

Looking at his face she could see that there was some form of deep seated conflict within his mind. His flesh was shifting and changing and she could remember all too easily how he had come and comforted her during her own struggles a few nights before.

"Something's troubling you." She said and he turned towards her.

"A lot of things are troubling me, but I'm trying to decide something."

"Decide what?"

The grin this time showed how all of his teeth had become pointed like a slaughterfish's. "I have been hiding who and what I am for a long time. Maybe…" a flash of humanity crossed his face and some of his teeth shrunk. "Maybe it is time that I no longer hide what I really am."

"Reveal yourself to be a vampire?" Serana was incredulous but there was no doubting just how serious he was. "To everyone?"

"Why not? The Emperor knows who I am. Also, I would be more surprised than not if word hadn't began spreading from the Dawnguard. Sooner than later people will know."

"Isn't that going to be dangerous?"

"Compared to what? Fighting dragons? Being stuck in a Dwemer city faced with starvation and being eaten alive? We still have to get out of here and I don't think that we can if I keep holding myself back."

"Then don't." he looked at her with his own look of vampiric shock and she rolled her eyes. "Don't hold back. Don't hide what you are. All these times we have trained as vampires you have been teaching me to accept what I am and what my capabilities are, and yet you aren't accepting yourself.

"I know. It's been very hypocritical of me but it is something that I will change. Especially now how our survival depends on it." his eyes had turned back into those of a mortal man without the shadows and inky blackness swirling within them. "Tomorrow we're both going to need every skill and ability we have if everyone is going to get out of here alive. Are you going to be ready for that?"

Serana turned away from him, focussing on the enormous blue crystal suspended from the cavern almost a hundred meters above the floor. The light was soothing despite its alien nature. "If you had asked me this at or shortly after we left the Dawnguard I would have told you no…" Slowly and carefully she controlled her breathing and attempted to still her racing heart, clenching and unclenching her fists in an attempt to remove the tingling sensation within them. "I am ready."

The tiny encouraging nod from Kaius gave her strength and a confidence that she never had thought possible. Sofia and Lydia were right; no matter the situation or the adversary, just being with Kaius made them believe anything was possible and that they would make it through to the end.

Thudding lightly against the window frame, he leaned back and wriggled himself into a more comfortable position. There was no sign of fangs in his smile to her as he relaxed. "Good."

* * *

In one of the darkest corners of the mansion, Sulla sat with his back to the wall, facing the only doorway into his room. He was alone and had the space all too himself and while his scavenged bedroll was laid out he wasn't within it. In the darkness and the silence of the mansion he could hear little more than the faint clicking and ticking of Dwemer machinery that faded in and out in time with his own breathing.

To describe him as furious was something of an understatement as he growled into the shadows, seeing in them the twisting, writhing forms of the beings responsible for ruining him. They crawled and snickered in the darkness, taking upon the forms of elves bent and twisted by their foul masters but the more he stared, the more they mutated. These were not the diseased, eyeless beings with their tiny puckering mouths and splinter teeth taunting him from the depths of his mind, but the laughing, mocking visages of men and mer who had betrayed him so thoroughly.

Some were no longer a threat to him and yet they still haunted the corners of his sight, hissing and whispering where they thought he could hear them. But hear them he did. He could hear them discussing leaving the city, just as he heard them discussing and planning breaking into the city without him. Endrast had done exactly as he had promised, he had bent and twisted the loyalties of Sulla's own minions into serving him and had left Sulla to rot in the ice. It was somewhat fitting that he had fallen to his arrogance, but then… Endrast hadn't died as a _mistake_…

Oh, no indeed. Endrast had been killed in exchange for his silence. Sulla could see it all clearly now and he had been able to see it clearly for several days now. Endrast, Valie, Yag, the Khajiit and all of those others supposedly loyal to him had been stolen away, just as the fame, glory and wealth of Alftand was being taken from him.

_Kaius…_ The Dragon speaking bastard… He who had been foiling and undermining his authority ever since he had arrived. The way that Kaius had stood up to him on the day of their arrival was still fresh in his mind, almost just as fresh as the occasion that he had dropped that mangled arm with the concocted story of Animunculi making people vanish. _Pah!_ A likely story indeed!

Wiping the crumbs of the hardtack rations away from his face, Sulla snarled in the direction of the door. The others mightn't have been able to see it but he could. Kaius and those bitches that followed him as obediently as the dogs were nothing more than agents of the Dragol's. Those orchish bastards would have never honoured the arrangement and instead of accepting their due payment had sent saboteurs. The destruction of the bridge, the gradual diminishment and loss of their rations, the theft of _his own private wine stock!_ All of this was just to test him and push him towards the edge.

His teeth bit down hard into an ice-hardened cheese curd and he growled again. Traitors. They were all traitors and he could trust no one but himself. Even those he had thought utterly loyal to him had been proven wanting but they would all receive their comeuppance very soon indeed. Some already had. In the shadows and in his mind's eye he could see and feel the way that Yag had fallen. It had been so easy to trip her. The hardest part of all was not smiling when the Falmer fell on her and dragged her away.

Umana would be a problem, but not as much as dealing with Kaius and his minions. The Redguard could still prove useful in the future as he dealt with the women supporting Kaius. Briefly he found his thoughts shifting through the various options of revenge, lingering on the possibility of enjoying Kaius' women before he removed them. That Serana especially had an arousing air of virginity and _purity_ about her that was almost as tempting as a slab of raw meat before a starved wolf but he shook the thoughts away. It would be best if they all simply _vanished._ Then, when the glory and treasures of Alftand were secured he could remove the Dragol's from his life and have everything all to himself.

There was only the issue of the Falmer, those hunchbacked beings would be a considerable thorn in his side but the stash of gems and treasures in his pack would be more than enough to deal with them. Once the storm on the surface died he would seek out further mercenaries, perhaps even bribe aid from the Stormcloaks. They were in need of treasure and weapons and this city would provide both once their muscle removed the Falmer.

In mid bite he stopped, eyes widening in realisation. This _nest_… The _Falmer._ These were the answer. Before he could leave and seek out help in securing the city they would assist him in his current problems. They would ensure that no trace of these traitors would ever be found…

Glinting in the corner of the room, his eyes burned brightly as a plan came together within his mind.

* * *

Translations:

"_Ja'fith khaja, Kirma_" - Warm sands, Honey

"_Shabozay an viti dena hagi di zivsho…_" - Hairless and lost behind (a) wall of gold...


	12. The Nest

Slipping through the shadows and gloom of the collapsed warren of Falmer tunnels, Kaius and Serana were invisible and just as lethal as the storm on the surface. Even immortals such as themselves would have been hard pressed to keep up with them, let alone see them as they swirled and ripped through the darkness with impunity. Both of them were as one with the shadows themselves, wrapping them around themselves like cloaks and moving undetected.

Except for the dozens of corpses they left scattered in their wake they left no trace of their passage through the cold tunnels of rock, ice and shattered Dwemer buildings. The Falmer nest was as expected swarming with the creatures but they had no comprehension of patrols or guards beyond those watching over their brood-nurseries and the breeding females. Only the sheer numbers of their wretched kind ensured that the tunnels weren't vacant and it was these beings that met Kaius and Serana head on.

While never one for interacting with her own kind, the time before her entombment had left Serana privy of what it was like being a vampire. She had never been one for '_practicing'_ on the thralls or the nearby Nordic populations but she had learned enough and heard even more. All vampires were capable of blending themselves into the shadows in a unique form of stealth unmatched by any other being in Tamriel but they were divided on how it was accomplished. Some believed that because they were creatures of the night they were merely allowing themselves to return to their pure forms momentarily. Others believed that they were using a unique daedric power or magicka to become invisible and ethereal in the shadows.

Whatever the reason or however they were able to do so, it was invaluable within the Falmer nest. She could also sense the differences in Kaius as he moved through the tunnels. His vampire was close to the surface now, revealing a split maw filled with serpentine fangs as his true nature was revealed in the instants he erupted from the shadows. It was different from her own form but there was no denying the link they shared. The subtle differences in their shadow merging ability were also noticeable to her. She blended and turned invisible as though born to it, feeling the caress of the darkness and slipping within it as though she was crawling into a warm bed for the evening. Kaius in comparison instead seemed to grip the shadows with the sheer force of his mind and bullied it into taking him where he wanted to go.

It was these thoughts that churned through her mind that allowed her to retain some semblance of control. Her own vampiric form was surfaced for the moment and all of the lessons and skills that Kaius had taught her were being used to keep it on a _very_ short leash. As he had described, it was very much sitting on a saddled sabrecat and only the grip on the reins kept it in check. There was a rawness and overwhelming energy that surged through her and the lure to the darkness was intoxicating but while she held a grip on it, it wouldn't tear itself free.

There was no doubting the way that it was terrifying to be akin to sitting in the back of one's own mind, watching the actions of your body do things without your direct control. The times that she encountered the Falmer were short and messy as her bloodthirsty instincts reacted without needing her conscious thoughts. She would simply appear from the shadows within arm's reach and even before their superb hearing could alert them to the danger it would all be over. Heads were crushed or simply ripped from torsos, chests and hearts would be impaled on the long, folded length of her taloned wings or she would simply crush them with magicka.

With the two vampires leading the way, the hesitant survivors followed in their wake, stepping over the broken and shattered remains of the hapless creatures that had gotten in the way. None of them were close enough to see exactly how the two of them were slaughtering the Falmer as despite Kaius' contemplation of revealing the truth he was yet to reveal himself or Serana to the others. Instead every single one of the survivors followed them into the nest, as it had been decided that despite the dangers of so many entering the infested portions of the tunnels, it would be easier to protect everyone and ensure that no one got lost in the process.

Unfortunately, in its own way it was remarkably easy to find and reach the flesh-pens of the Falmer nest for Serana and Kaius. Their attuned senses for flesh, blood and beating hearts made it impossible not to notice the congregation of mortals clustered in the carved out ruins and ice flows of this part of Alftand. The Falmer smelt and tasted as corrupted and polluted as they appeared, and their heartbeats were a mangled collection of defects and diseases that made them stand out to the terrified and fear filled prisoners in the cages.

Unfolding themselves from the shadows, Kaius and Serana ripped into a small collection of Falmer wresting and snarling at each other over the remains of a chaurus. Before the creatures had registered their presence Kaius had already snapped a neck and punched another so hard that its skull shattered and Serana speared the other through the chest with both of her wings and almost casually ripped it in two. Only the wet sounds of meat being torn or the crunching of bones announced their presence as they both carefully laid the corpses and pieces on the ground. The flesh-pens were almost devoid of the creature's but there were many of their stunted kind locked away for meals themselves and until they were dealt with stealth was still critical

For a moment she writhed, trying hard not to cry out as her body snapped and twisted itself back into human again. The sensations were so powerful that it bent her over and force her to hunch over on the cold, stony floor gagging. These were the first times that she was willingly turning into her _'Vampire Lord"_ form and it was taking a lot to get used to.

"Are you okay?"

She nodded to Kaius, who had returned into his mortal appearing form as easily as putting a shirt on, trying desperately to ignore the metallic taste in her mouth or the deep yearning for violence in her soul. "I will be. Was it ever this difficult for you?"

The way he chuckled was simultaneously calming and disturbing. "You're making it look easy."

Despite the fact that she was dressed in little more than pants, boots and strip of cloth across the chest there was no sign that she could feel the chill in the tunnels. The layer of dust that she had rubbed onto her body had reduced her pale skin considerably and while everyone else had believed that she had stripped off to assist with stealth, she had in fact done so not to shred her clothes through the changes. It was one of the few things she felt a hint of jealously at the way that Kaius became a vampire. He could still wear clothes and armour without ruining them.

"You free everyone." He said, turning and looking over the collection of pens that she remembered none-too-fondly. "I'll deal with the others."

Nodding in agreement, she moved quickly over towards the nearest of the healthier heartbeats she could sense in one of the pens and tried to ignore the hissing from the others. As far as she could tell there were several dozen beings locked away in the pens but most appeared to be other Falmer. It was these Falmer that Kaius had moved towards with his sword in hand to silence them.

Ripping open the first of the gates made of sinew and chaurus chitin, she found herself faced with a pair of the excavation's members. As suspected, not everyone who had been cut off in the tunnel collapse from Kaius' _Thu'um_ had been killed, and several had been taken captive since Endrast's escape.

They were all however already feeling the effects of the poisonous fungus that the Falmer had been forcing upon them. While nowhere near as advanced as Endrast's blind eyes, there was the hints of glassiness and squinting from those within the pens even as they almost tripped over themselves leaving them.

"Go that way." She gestured towards the tunnel that Kaius and her had entered from. From the sounds the others were moving quickly on their path but every second they wasted was another second that they could be discovered.

Nodding their thanks, the first prisoners shifted forward, keeping close to each other and the walls and flinching at the sounds of sickening gurgles and cut off squeals as Kaius slaughtered the trapped Falmer. Most were sickly and malnourished even to their race's standards and offered no real resistance to Kaius' blade but every sound played on Serana's nerves.

There were pitifully few survivors among the prisoners and she tried not to look in the direction of the other tunnel leading deeper into the nest. A collection of bones and a ruined carcass had been set up on a collection of broken Dwemer poles and stones that was undeniably feline, as well as recently killed. The bloodstained fur was more than enough to tell her who the body had originally belonged to without the hollowed out skull with shattered fangs.

Counting each of the freed prisoners as she ripped open the chitinous gates, she reached nine before Kaius finished his own grisly task and the others appeared in the tunnel. Sofia and Lydia were at the front with the Khajiit following up on the rear and the muted exclamations of people meeting those they had believed dead echoed alarmingly loud in the cavern. Neither party had pleasant experiences but it was obvious that those who had been taken prisoner were suffering more as a result.

Reaching one of the last pens containing a humanoid heartbeat, she gripped the bars as she had the others and snapped them away as easy as breaking a stalk of wheat. She knew that if the captives hadn't been poisoned and sickened that the chitin wouldn't have been that difficult to break out of but she shredded it easily. It was within the first step into the pen towards the captive that she was left frozen in place, finding herself reminded all too well of the horrors of her father's court as her gorge rose.

"Kaius! I need you over here!"

Her voice echoed alarmingly loud despite the way that she had hissed the words and Kaius moved away from the last pen that he had filled with slaughtered Falmer. The look of concern on his face only grew more prominent when he saw the way that she was covering her mouth and shying away from the pen.

"What is…" he stopped in mid step as his eyes pierced through the shadows and saw the being laying on the stones and filth of the pen and for a moment Serana could feel the burning hatred in his soul threaten to surface. The way his face tightened was a clear indication, but it was not as chilling as his voice.

"Sofia. I need you, Bronlin, and Rovophas to finish off the Falmer in the next cavern." Sofia slowed to a halt at the intense gaze Kaius had at them all and it was difficult to look him in the eye. "Take the brothers with you as there is one or two of ours in there as well."

As they shifted in the direction of the adjacent cavern, Kaius motioned for Serana and Lydia to join him and stepped into the pen. Usually as cold as a glacier herself, Lydia stopped in mid step and gagged, forcibly trying not to vomit.

Laid out on the stones, it was at first difficult to identify the being under the sheer layer of filth and clotted gore that covered her but despite this there were traces of blonde hair amidst it all. Through a combination of infection, pain and toxins Valie was obviously slipping in and out of consciousness and was utterly delirious.

"Talos preserve us." Lydia whispered, breathing shallowly through her mouth in an attempt not to breath in the stench. "What… What have they been doing to her?"

Kaius remained resolutely silent, moving over and kneeling down over her and looking over the various injuries she had sustained. Most were little more than minor scratches no worse than by a regular fingernail but the heat of her flesh revealed that the weeks of captivity had riddled her with sickness.

"They have been…" Even witnessing some of the horrors of Castle Volkihar, Serana had to swallow down her own rising disgust and building anger and understood how Kaius was feeling. At that moment she would have slaughtered every single one of the hunchbacked creatures if it had been in her power.

"Eating her." Kaius' voice was as cold as the grave and simultaneously revealed and concealed the churning emotions within him. "Yes. She's lucky we got here in time."

Looking over the injuries to her legs and the obvious way that her shins had been purposefully broken, it was also obvious that something had been gnawing away on her legs. Tiny scuttling in the corner of her eye left Serana seeing the tiny pincer mouthed insect squirming away under the filth and Kaius crushed one under a fist as it reacted to his presence.

"Chaurus larvae. The larger the Chaurus become the more acidic and potent their venom becomes but when they are young their toxins numb and paralyse. She must have tried to escape so they broke her legs and left her to feed the chaurus."

Rolling in the grips of her delirium, Valie didn't seem to know that they were present or react to anything beyond her own feverous dreams. Kaius' face was set in stone as he looked over her injuries but had he been a Khajiit he would have been growling dangerously.

"We need to get her out of here."

"Kaius…" Lydia's voice was softly spoken but there was her own steel in her tone. "She's… She's too far gone."

Where there had been the hint of a growl, there was now an audible one and his cheekbones shifted under his skin. "No. We can and we will get her out of here. No one else is going to be left to these things." Carefully he dragged in a deep breath, seemingly oblivious to the smell of decaying flesh from where Valie's legs had begun necrotising from the biting mandibles of the tiny chaurus. "Give me your axe."

Both Serana and Lydia found themselves sharing and expression of mutual unease but Lydia didn't hesitate, dragging her axe free from its loop and handing it to him as he gently caressed Valie's forehead.

"I'm going to need both of you to help." He said very simply, turning and looking around the filthy pen in disgust. They could feel the swirling energies throbbing from within him a second before he breathed out a potent _Yol_ at the floor that was obviously Dwemer in make. While the word was little more than a whisper it still punched into their minds and left them blinking at the after images of the fire scouring the stones clean. The smell became momentarily worse for a heartbeat before he whispered another word that scoured the air just as the fire did the stone.

Their nerves were fraying now as the dying energies of _Ven _dissipated, but the energies within Kaius were dangerously powerful as he continued on heedless of their reactions. Carefully, with their assistance he shifted her onto the cleaner portion of the floor scoured by the fury of the _Thu'um_, wrenching a waterskin from his belt and beginning to wash her thighs.

"What are you going to do?"

Not for a moment did his eyes look up into theirs as Valie twitched and rolled in her fever dream and he quickly cut the last vestiges of her pant legs away to reveal just how terrible her injuries were. "If we could get her to a master of restoration there would be the chance of saving her legs, but the infection and rot is already too set in for my skill. For her to have any fighting chance we have to amputate."

Both Serana and Lydia were stunned but they could fault his decision seeing the state that the Altmer mage was in. For several seconds as Kaius prepared by drawing his dagger and sword, placing them on the ground in a neat row they sat in silence, contemplating and trying, but failing to think of alternatives.

"What do you need us to do?"

"Hold her feet for the most part. I will need someone to hold the axe though."

Picking up the axe, Serana felt its unfamiliar weight and felt sick. "Ready."

"Thanks." Kaius was breathing heavily, but steadily now as though he was preparing for a lengthy swim or a long mediation, mouthing words and rolling them with his tongue as he sought out those which he needed. The strain on his face was almost painful to behold as he cast a magelight to hover over his shoulder, pressing his hand onto Valie's forehead and whispering _Stin Nol Faaz_.

The effect on the delirious high elf was immediate and all movements and rolling of her head and torso was gone as instantly as he had stabbed her in the heart. Only the gentle rise and fall of her head showed that she was indeed still alive but for those few moments her fever and pain were washed away.

"Right…" Kaius muttered as he looked her over and thought about what he was about to do. If not for the slightest twitch of his eye there was no sign of stress on Kaius' face. "I will need you to hold the axe just over her but I will grab it off you very quickly. Lydia, hold her feet but this won't take long."

He sat as still as a statue over the senseless Valie, eyes closed and lips moving as though he was whispering. Every few seconds he would shake his head as though disagreeing with someone, frowning in concentration and almost sweating.

"What are you doing?"

Without stopping he glanced at Lydia and then back to the comatose Valie. "Trying to think of the right words as I need to be quick in what I'm about to do. Now, shush."

His breathing had increased as though preparing for a swim and they could hear him over the faint noise of the dozens of other survivors waiting for them outside of the pen. They could also feel the surging energies throbbing within the very core of his being as he willed them into existence but before either of them could react it was all over.

A strange wind plucked at their clothing and Serana tried not to shiver from the latent energies called forth by the first trio of words that erupted from Kaius' mouth. From close range and even though they were the equivalent of a whisper, the _Thu'um_ was incomparable to any other forms of magicka or abilities, even vampirism. _Su Grah Dun_ rippled through his body and infused itself into his Skyforge Steel but before either herself or Lydia could truly react he had cut one of Valie's legs off mid-thigh. Even before the first words had begun to echo, Kaius ripping Lydia's axe from Serana's grasp, coughing forth _Ensosin Dwiin Yol_ and leaving the head of the Axe literally burning and glowing red.

The smell of burned flesh filled the air and overwhelmed the smell of rot, Falmer and faecal matter in the pen as the glowing axe was pressed against the burning stump of a leg. Valie didn't react to either the sudden loss of a limb or the fact that the almost-molten flat edge of the axe was used to sear the wound closed. Her breathing didn't even change which was somehow more disconcerting than the way that he immediately repeated his actions and shouts on the other leg.

"Now… Now she might have a chance." Kaius muttered, wiping his mouth on the back of a hand and spitting a mouthful of blood on the floor. It was obvious that he was looking much paler than normal and his mouth had started bleeding from the sheer force of using the Thu'um in such a way.

Serana and Lydia were both in awe of what he had just done but it was obvious to the both of them that he had paid for such abilities. Blood was dripping down from the corners of his mouth and it was almost as though he was suffering from a serious bout of scurvy.

"Are you okay?"

He nodded in Serana's direction, handing back Lydia's axe after spitting _Yol_ to clean its head. "I will be fine. We need to move though. The Falmer will most likely have heard that. Valie will also need to be carried…" in mid-sentence he trailed off, his grim expression changing to one of concern and building anger.

"Now what?" there was no doubting the annoyance in his voice, the growl reverberating through Lydia's bones as she realised that Serana was also hearing what Kaius was a second before the voices grew audible. Even as they both helped Lydia lift the senseless Valie into her arms there was no doubt that a vicious argument was breaking out amongst the survivors.

To a man, the entire group were present, including Sofia and the handful of others that Kaius had directed to secure the other pens. In the time it took for Kaius to amputate Valie's legs they had returned with the last of the expedition members who had been cut off in the tunnel collapse. Surprisingly they weren't directing their anger at Kaius or his direct companions, at least not those recently freed.

The lines between the survivors had been clearly drawn, but for the most part many of their number were attempting to calm the situation or at the very least stop the others from making noise. Hulking and growling in her rage, an obviously injured Yag was being restrained by a pair of the Khajiit as she struggled to break their grip, while the others where shying away from the smug appearing Sulla standing just behind Umana trying to work out who exactly she was meant to be pointing her sword. Her hesitation at pointing her blade at one of her closest collegues was not lost on anyone, especially when she visably jumped when Kaius came storming out of Valie's pen.

"Malacath take you!" Spittle was flecking the corners of Yag's mouth and tusks as she struggled against the full weight of a pair of _Pahmars._ "I'm going to wring the life out of you!"

"All because you didn't have the decency to die, traitor." In comparision to the increasingly aggressive Yag, Sulla's voice was as cold as ice and dripping like honey even though that only confusion was keeping the Orc from reaching him.

"What in Oblivion is going on?"

Some eyes glanced at Kaius as he moved out into the group and he, Serana and Lydia suddenly found themselves the corner of a triangle of the excavation members. Only Sulla and the increasingly confused Umana were on the third side as everyone else was standing at Yag's back.

"What's going on? Why, Master Desin it appears you aren't as smart as you thought." Sulla's grin was as ferocious as one of the _pahmars_' if not for the lack of fangs. "You see, I uncovered your little plot some time ago and your intention to overthrow me but it seems that some of you just don't die easily."

The remark left Yag grunting and almost roaring in rage and the clawed feet of the Kahjiit holding her dug into the floor to keep her back despite the naked sword in Umana's hand. "You're a bastard Sulla. You left me and the others to these things! Halril, Ogiar and Jebeenie have died because of you!"

"NO!" Sulla's voice was loud and made everyone jump before there were a massed intake of breath and terrified hisses. "I haven't killed anyone but traitors. A true murderer is standing right before you!"

Sharing a collection of terrified expressions, the group turned in the direction of his accusing finger where Kaius was listening to everything but the Imperial Nobleman. His expression was growing darker by the second, especially when he chose to ignore Sulla entirely and share his own glance with Sofia and the others. "We need to move. _Right now_…"

"You aren't going anywhere traitor!" There was no doubting the impudent rage in Sulla's voice at how Kaius was ignoring him and the fact that everyone else was obeying him. "You all belong to me!"

"You're deranged." Lydia snarled, trying her best to shift her grip on the unconscious High Elf in her arms.

With his eyes hooded in the shadows, Kaius squinted at Sulla and didn't move a muscle. "You have a choice right now Sulla. You come with us and we get the hell out of here or we leave you here for the Falmer."

Laughing right in his face, Sulla was slowly creeping forward with his eyes gleaming in the shadows. "Those creatures won't touch me. They'll be too busy gnawing on your bones. I will get out of here. I will become rich and you all will be very, _very_ dead."

As he shifted his gaze from Sulla to the Redguard mercenary standing between him and the others, Kaius' expression didn't waver for a second. "What say you, Umana?"

The sword in her hand was increasingly hesitant and in those few seconds it had lowered itself very slightly. "Sulla…" She said, her voice very soft and purposefully devoid of any emotion. "Let's… Let's just get out of here. Hasn't there been enough death?"

Slowly changing from the righteous amusement of the seconds before, Sulla's expression hardened and his eyebrows furrowed deeply. "Oh… Of course…" He drawled, slowly and carefully. "You are one of them. You're just waiting for me to turn my back so you can have all the glory for yourself?"

Umana's reply was cut off in mid breath as she felt a hand grasp her by the throat but before she or anyone else could react Sulla had ripped his dagger from its sheath and jammed it up and under her breastplate. She didn't cry out or make a single noise, her sharp inhalation of breath and the stiffening of her entire body the only sign that the blade had sunk home.

Before anyone could move or realise what had occurred, Sulla had twisted and shoved Umana in the spine, sending her sprawling forward into Kaius' arms as he moved without thinking. Her sword clattered loudly to the floor, chiming and echoing in the suddenly still air as everyone struggled to understand what had happened.

Worse than the metallic chiming was a softer, but steadily building sound emanating from the tunnels that was impossible to ignore. The chorus of clicking, hissing and chirping was building now and it was obvious that the nest had become aware of their presence.

"We need to move!" Kaius growled, the sheer force of his tone enough to snap everyone out fo their building horror and confusion. "Now!"

"What about Sulla?"

Sparing little more than a glance down the darkened tunnel where the slapping of boots on stone and ice echoed like the beats of a drum, Kaius shrugged and scowled in response to Sofia's question. "Leave him. He's made his choice."

With Umana's mostly limp form in his arms, Kaius was holding her carefully and staring into a face already going pale with shock. The knife had penetrated through the chainmail under her steel plate but as far as he could tell it wouldn't be a fatal injury, barring infection or the like. It was however more than enough to slow her down and cause a significant amount of pain despite his attempts at restoration magicka. Adrenaline was soon overcoming her shock, especially with how it was now being fuelled by the increasingly loud sound of approaching Falmer.

Throwing an arm over his shoulder, he lifted the armoured Redguard and looked over the group facing him for guidance. Terror was seeping into all of them and he could feel it as easily as he could taste it with his enhanced senses and with little more than a nod they all turned and began to run.

* * *

For most the darkness, especially the darkness of the city and the tunnels would have been terrifying. To Sulla as he sprinted into its depths it wrapped around him like the comforting arms of a lover and he felt triumphant. The looks on all of those traitorous bastards' faces was almost worth more than the also sexual release when he felt the tip of his dagger sink home. He had thrown their complicity and subterfuge right back down their throats and had revealed that he knew everything at the same time as taking his revenge.

Sure, it could have gone smoother but how was he to know that the orchish bitch was still alive? The fact that she was still living and breathing was just further proof to add to the pile that they had planned it all along. He wasn't sure how they had managed to pull that little trick off with the Falmer but it no longer mattered. Their bestial accomplices would soon rid him of the others and with a little more luck they would wipe each other out.

Hundreds of Falmer? Perhaps thousands? _Bah!_ There was only a few dozen, maybe a hundred at the very most. This pathetic infestation in _his_ city could be stamped out easily enough with enough men. The treasures in his pack would be more than enough to hire a whole legion worth of mercenaries and clear Alftand of their presence.

All he needed to do was to leave the city, a task that should not be a concern for someone who had plotted and out-thought his treasonous employees. After all, no one could contend with the politicking skills and subterfuge of an Imperial Nobleman!

With his heart thundering away in his chest and breathing becoming ragged he stepped into one of the side tunnels lit by the faint blue light of the fungus growing from the ceiling and walls. It was still dark within the tunnels but his eyes had adjusted well and were helped considerably by the gleaming soulgem in his hand. Like the other two in his pack they had been charged the night before by the treasonous Kaius and his minion Sofia but like the additional supplies and treasure sharing his backpack they had come into his possession. The faint glow was more than enough for him to move through the shadows without tripping or otherwise falling over and judging by the sounds in the tunnel the traitors weren't following him at least.

Any sense of accomplishment or pride at his ability of giving them the slip was diminished somewhat by the sounds of the approaching creatures. There wasn't many of them but they were excited and despite himself he didn't wish to announce his presence. His fighting prowess was considerable and had won him a tournament or two within Bravil County even without the usual bribes but he wasn't that foolish to know that their numbers would be telling. No point putting himself in unnecessary harm.

The clicking and nasally chirps grew closer and closer and he moved quickly into the room, feeling foolish at himself for considering hiding the soulgem from a group of creatures without eyes. This particular cavern was filled with dozens of stalagmites covered in a strange, pustular fungus with dozens of glowing circular patches allowing him to move without needing his gem. They were everywhere, clustered together in various sizes and shapes and all covered with the pustules but it did provide him with the ability to shift and move deeper into their mass away from the clicking.

Through the tiny tunnel where he entered, a trio of the hunchbacked Falmer appeared in the strange capering gait that he was becoming increasingly familiar with. There was no doubt that they were moving with distinct purpose, especially how they were clad in a mismatch collection of leather and chitinous plates held together with sinew. Each of their clawed hands were gripping various items that could be loosely described as weapons only by their obvious appearance for causing injuries and pain. One was grasping what was undoubtedly a leg of one of their great insect pets, another was wielding a club fashioned from femurs and stones and the third was simply carrying a hunk of stone crudely sharpened on one end into the approximation of an edge. To any well-equipped warrior they would have been little more than a joke but Sulla had seen how effective the creatures were in numbers.

Refusing to move a muscle despite the fact that he was almost in the open and visible if they had possessed eyes, he watched as they edged closer to the clusters of stalagmites and their fungal growths. Every step they made was almost accompanied with a continued series of clicks and twitches of their ears and heads from side to side like a collection of mutated bats. Each click was beginning to grate on his mind, even more than the wet, nasally breathing through the vertical tear drop slits of what past for nostrils.

Just as he began to believe that they were hunting him and knew that he was there the lead Falmer stopped in place, ears twitching and nose sniffing ever more quickly as it reached the first of the fungal stalagmites. It was obviously agitated, snarling and chirping away in the animalistic nature of its kind and even though Sulla swore that it had turned and looked directly at him for a moment it stepped away.

Whatever passed for intelligence in their corrupted, polluted minds set the three of them against each other for a few moments, snarling and barking at each other like a trio of hounds until the larger of the three hiss-roared and physically slapped another. Appearing admonished, the smaller pair ducked their heads, ears twitching and whimpering before scampering back from where they came.

Despite himself, Sulla breathed a sigh of relief at the larger Falmer turned and followed its fellows, especially how it had paused in mid step, turning back in his direction and again giving him the feeling that it knew that he was there. He could see its flaring, dripping nostrils as it snarled in frustration and then it was gone, fading into the shadows without a further backwards glance.

Again the feeling of triumph flooded him with the heady sensation of victory and he grinned, almost jumping on the spot in glee as he fished the soul gem out of his pocket. The glowing fungus was illuminated the cavern but he didn't want to stumble about like a drunken peon. He was a nobleman from Bravil, not some wine soaked Skingradian!

Movement in the corner of his eye caught his gaze and he shifted, turning to one of the other stalagmites that was _wobbling?_ There was definitely something under the fungus, under the surface that was pulsating and throbbing like a cancerous growth.

Curious, he shifted a little closer, holding his soul gem out like a lantern to look at the tiny shapes shifting and writing under the circular pustules. They flickered and writhed and as he watched one of the burst open like a blister.

There was no more room for triumph or elation at eluding his foes at the sight of the grey, chitinous thing and the horror that accompanied the realisation. These things were not fungus covered stalagmites, but instead were mounds of eggs.

Attracted to the warmth and movement that he had unwittingly provided, the nearest chaurus egg clusters began to prematurely hatch and disgorge the hundreds of razor mawed larvae. The tiny ant chaurus were little larger than his thumb but there were hundreds, if not thousands of them swarming out of their mounds of bulbous cocoons towards him.

Panic followed realisation and changed into an overwhelming terror as he saw and felt them scuttling and clawing their way up his legs in a voracious swarm. With their mandibles and claws they ripped and tore through his clothes and gnawed into his flesh, biting and chewing and mixing the embryonic fluids of their birth with his blood.

At first he slashed and slapped at himself with his hands and the flat of his sword, kicking and shrieking as unlike some of their more developed siblings, the freshly hatched larvae had no venom to speak of. There would be no numbing of the pain or agony as they went about devouring him to fuel their growth, and the echoes of his screams lingered long after many had taken advantage of his screaming mouth to swarm down his throat.

* * *

Hounded by the constant pressure of the approaching hordes, the surviving members of the expedition fled as quickly as they could manage. Weakened by the cold and weeks of poor diets and weighed down by those who were injured or had been captured by the Falmer it was all they could do to walk quickly, let alone run or even jog. Umana was one of the many who were suffering injuries, the knife blade staining her side with blood despite Kaius' restoration magicka but she was just one of several needing assistance to stand. Yag's burly arm was wrapped around the smaller Redguard's waist as they staggered and lurched down the tunnel, as Kaius had moved to the rear alongside the last few capable of fighting.

There was no doubt that the entirety of the Falmer nest knew that they had freed their flesh-slaves and while they didn't know exactly where they were it was only a matter of time. Dozens of the foul beings were loping down the various tunnels and many were driving their pet Chaurus ahead like hunting dogs, the chittering and scratching of chitinious talons as blood chilling as howls.

More and more of them were flooding their way through the tunnels and leaving the nest and surprisingly the survivors had managed to entirely backtrack their way out of the nest before they sighted the first Falmer. There were handfuls of them following and searching but unlike the bloody mindedness of their initial attacks in the excavation tunnels, these were hesitant and unwilling to rush forward. It was soon obvious that while they remained in small groups or were outnumbered by their prey they shied away from direct confrontation, but the more they congregated, the more their numerical advantage left them with an uncontrollable hunger. It would not be long before they reached the critical mass required to flood forward, heedless of injuries, pain, or the death of their fellows and drown the ragged survivors down to feast.

Kaius knew this, as did all the others as they moved as quickly as they could in the direction of the towering cathedral-like structure only a few hundred metres away. Upon leaving the catacombs of chiselled out tunnels of crushed masonry and growing ice they all could see the edifice of marble-like stone and bronze spearing up to the curved ceiling like a beacon.

"Keep moving! We're almost there!" Kaius shouted, almost walking backwards to keep both eyes on every tunnel mouth and darkened alley of the partially ruined buildings between the Falmer nest and the cathedral. There was movement growing now, and they all knew that the end was drawing nearer by the second.

"Can I make a request?" Strangely quiet, Sofia's voice barely carried through the air and over the sounds of broken machinery creaking and hissing in the ruins about them.

"Sure. I'm not sure about your timing in the matter though."

"Don't let them take me alive."

Kaius and the others by his side spared her a glance and she could see that she wasn't the only one with such thoughts. Both Lydia and Serana were looking grim, and she caught the tiny nod of agreement from the stoic housecarl.

"Deal. I'm hoping it won't come to that though."

"If you are going to pull some miraculous plan out of your arse Kaius, now would be the time."

The closer they got to the towering cathedral they more they realised that it was definitely not a place of worship, even for a race that valued science and logic over everything. Surrounded by a curtain wall dozens of metres high around a gigantic column of carved stone and metal, it was more and more obvious that it was more of a fortress or a castle than anything else. The walls were capped with crenulations and strange projectile launchers that appeared to be giant crossbows if not to the lack of windlasses or arms and the collection of pipes leading into them. It was also obvious, and slightly strange that despite the relative size of the walls, most of the Dwemer siege weapons were facing inside of the fortress, and only a few faced out into the city itself.

The doors however were impressive. Forty metres high and built from the same impervious metal of the rest of their buildings, they would have weighed hundreds of tonnes and appeared as immovable as the Throat of the World. A smaller, more regular sized set of doors were built into the larger ones, appearing much more suitable for any typical castle or city gatehouse and thankfully these were somewhat ajar as they approached.

By now, and with the last metres to go before they reached the doors the Falmer began to appear in force. At first it was a handful of Chaurus scuttling forward like demented mudcrabs bred with centipedes but behind them the shadowed forms of dozens of Falmer were following close behind. Every seconds that passed allowed more and more to appear from around every corner and spilt from the shadows as though birthed by the darkness itself.

"Everyone inside!" Many of the survivors couldn't remember the last time that Kaius had been seen without his sword in his hand but it was somehow comforting as they pushed towards the doors. Unfortunately, the way that they were jammed meant that there was only just enough space for one at a time to pass through and the panic was increasing with every Falmer that appeared.

Little words were needed and the last handful of guards and Khajiit closed ranks together and formed a rough semicircle around the others who began jostling and shoving despite their best attempts.

"Hold the line." Kaius growled, his voice deepening subtly and the women by his side could sense and even see the changes that began to surge under his flesh. Even the Khajiit, standing with muscles tensed and the fur of their backs rising could sense the terrible power flowing through his veins as the Falmer moved ever closer.

Only one of their number seemed impervious to the sight of the fifty metres of open plaza separating the curtain walls and the nearest Dwemer buildings filling with a tide of grey flesh and salivating maws. J'darr was twitching and drooling, his own maw leaking great stringy lengths of saliva that coated the front of his chest as he hunched over on all fours. He was almost insensible, eyes rolling in his head and the tremors coursing through his body had nothing to do with cold or terror.

Even when outnumbering their prey a hundred to one there was something about the place Kaius and the others stood before that gave pause to the mutants. While the others watched with increasing fear at the sight of the numbers arrayed before them, J'zhar keened pitifully with a paw on his brother's shoulder knowing there was nothing more any of them could do.

"_Dejoh jer vako liter?_" J'daar growled suddenly, his mouth white and frothy and appearing for a moment that he had been infected with rabies. The insane gleam in his eye certainly didn't help the matter as he twisted and looked up at his brother on all fours. "_Keth deqe ali vaba bohaka an seja di zivshi ketith lofith Jan jeke_!"

For a moment J'zhar's attention was drawn away from the Falmer and he looked his brother in the eye with confusion and sorrow on his face, but before anyone realised what was happening J'darr rushed forward, bounding faster than anyone had imagined possible right at the heart of the Falmer.

"J'darr!" roared his brother as the enormous _pahmar-rhat_ surged forward in a frenzy of movement. He was almost impossibly fast, covering the distance in powerful strides on all four paws like a sabrecat and attacking without thought of the odds against him.

With his mouth falling open, J'zhar couldn't speak, watching as the first Falmer went down under crushing blows or batted aside as easily as ragdolls from the frenzied Khajiit's attacks. The other three Khajiit standing nearby were also shocked into inaction but the look on J'zhar's face said much even though the differences in races as he glanced to Sofia in particular.

Neither he or the other Khajiit said anything as they too broke out into full sprints at the encroaching horde, choosing in that moment to follow their brother into the heart of the horde. The Falmer seemed just as surprised, if not more so that Kaius and the others as they watched the doomed charge into the thickest concentration of the slavering monsters, ripping and tearing their way through the mass in suicidal frenzies.

Sofia watched, feeling her heart clench and throat tighten at the sight of one of the beings she considered to be her friend rip a bloody hole into the mass of Falmer with his kin by his side. The five _pahmar_'s eviscerated and mauled and killed dozens in every second that passed but the blind creatures were reacting like a school of slaughterfish sensing a wounded animal and swarmed them with bodies. Even despite their size the Khajiit were quickly lost under the undulating wave of chittering, shrieking Falmer climbing over themselves and heedless to their own casualties as they sought to feast on Khajiit flesh.

Kaius was momentarily lost for words, before muttering a quiet benediction to their sacrifice before moving to take advantage of the distraction while it lasted. Using threats, constant swearing and the liberal application of the flat of his blade and his boot he forced the remainder to get through the thin crack in the partially opened doors, pausing only long enough to see how a large majority of the swarm had turned away from the Khajiit and were now coming in their direction. He was the last to step through and only after he practically picked Sofia up and partially threw, partially shoved her through without hesitation.

Streaming through in panic, the survivors ran as fast as they could manage through what was obviously a gatehouse lined with doors to the other end fifty metres away. It was more of a tunnel than a building but they paid it no heed, moving towards the artificial light illuminating what appeared to be an enormous courtyard and staircase on the far side leading into the stone column. With the Falmer so close behind many of them paid no heed to the enormous bronze giant standing in the centre of the courtyard on the stone plinth. If not for the fact it was built from the same metal like all Dwemer constructions and that it was easily five time taller than a man it was almost mundane compared to the other sights of Alftand.

Kaius definitely didn't have eyes for the enormous statue with its arms raised into the air as though supplicating the sky or the gods for aid. One hand was fashioned into the brutal looking fist in the shape of a vice, and the other was a strange, fat mouthed tube as though the arm from the elbow down had been replaced with a long necked cauldron but his eyes were on the doors lining the tunnel.

"Lydia, Sofia! Lead them on!"

"Where?"

He gestured to the stairs. "This looks like one of the main entrances into the city! That's a lift!"

"A lift to where?"

Losing his patience, he swore loudly and forcibly, shaking a hand in the direction of the stairs and the towering doors being the only thing between them and the approaching horde. "Who the fuck cares? Anywhere but here! Get everyone on it but wait for us!"

Choosing not to fight or ask further questions, Lydia nodded and grabbed the protesting Sofia by the shoulder. Sofia in particular was beginning to look more and more dazed, and she wasn't the only one looking confused and overwhelmed and looking like she was about to succumb to shock.

"Serana!" the ancient vampiress hadn't moved far despite her obvious desire to flee with the others and the roiling shudders as she suppressed her darker nature but she moved to Kaius' side without hesitation. As he felt down the centre of one of the tunnel's doors he spared her a glance and nodded to the main doors and the swarm beyond. "I need you to hold them off!"

Nodding sombrely, she could feel the desire to release her full fury and abilities but held back for the moment. Even with her strength and the power of a Volkihar Vampire flowing through her veins there were far too many Falmer and Chaurus for her to defeat, and there was no way that she could defend the gap between the doors forever.

"Whatever you are doing, you better be quick!"

Ignoring the way that her enhanced hearing picked up the way that he was chanting "_please let me be right, please let me be right…_" under his breath she had to concentrate on the approaching swarm, especially how the first pressed between the doors.

Pushed by their fellows, the first several Falmer to push through the door tripped and sprawled through the gap and she hurled the power of her mind and magicka at them. One had enough time to register her presence before a telekinetic wall crushed it into paste between it and the Dwemer metal, and the other three died with conjured shards of ice spearing them in place. With one hand she gestured and cast bolts of energy and frozen water and the others she concentrated on the roiling currents of ethereal energy, probing for weaknesses between reality and oblivion. The echo made by her partially clumsy attempts always made her think of knocking on a wooden box but thankfully it didn't take long before a reply was heard.

Animalistic and unfathomable, the '_echo_' as such dribbled into existence even as she sculpted it with nothing but her iron will. Kaius and her had spent several pleasant hours discussing magicka and the effect that vampirism had on one's ability with the mystical arts and she knew that the years of holding back the curse ensured that most vampires had a natural affinity with magicka. She used this ability to fend off the ever increasing numbers of Falmer baying for flesh and blood by summoning help from Oblivion itself, forging a body of ice from the moisture in the air. It only took seconds, but in that time two dozen Falmer had pushed through and many more were making the attempt even as they crushed and trampled their own kind in their haste.

In a swirling tower of ice shards and impossibly low temperatures, the daedric essence entombed into the Atronach's body heeded Serana's summons and immediately attacked without thought or consideration of its own existence. Death was a foreign concept to daedra, and this usual advantage met the uncompromising, cannibalistic hunger of the Falmer head on.

Obviously straining and alternating between groaning and swearing, Kaius roared effort behind her. "Serana! Help me!"

Leaving the Atronach to continue its bloody harvest of the packed masses trying to claw and scrabble their way through a gap no wider than her shoulders, Serana turned and ran over to Kaius where he was digging in his heels, jamming his fingers into the tiny gap in the set of doors and heaving back with all of his strength.

"What do you need me to do?"

"Grab the door and pull!"

Doing just that, she took hold of the strangely flesh-warm metal that seemed impervious to any form of temperature change and heaved back. The doors were enormous, dozens of tonnes and designed to be opened with the strange mechanisms and machines of the Dwemer and not by hand. She pulled and almost with a sickening curiosity she saw that way that Kaius' entire body rippled and shuddered with more than just the exertion as he freed the vampire.

The doors were budging but despite the Atronach and their disadvantage of so many Falmer attempting to breach such a gap, they were succeeding in getting inside. Their attentions were still on the murderous ball of semi-sentient ice slaughtering them almost with impunity but it wouldn't last forever. Kaius knew this and she realised it just as quickly, making the split second decision to match him with her own corruption despite her enormous hesitation.

Roaring in effort to match Kaius's Daedric bellows, she could feel the flesh of her arms tighten, her fingers lengthen into claws and the horrible, wet snapping of her face and back as her own vampire surfaced. Her nose squashed itself flat to her face, ears growing pointed and tapered like a giant bat's and before it was lost to the howling rage of the vampire her sanity sarcastically remarked how she hadn't had a chance to put a shirt on. Both shoulder blades lengthened and grew, tearing free of her back and unfolding and spreading into leathery wings even as the horrible wounds healed bloodlessly.

Millimetre by excruciating millimetre they pulled and roared, forcing the ancient doors of the impervious metal open in an effort that took all of their strength. Serana was certain that her shoulders were threatening to split and dislocate from the force the vampire was putting into dragging them open before Kaius stopped, falling over in his haste to look through the gap. Despite their best efforts they had barely managed to pry them open at all, and Kaius had to turn side on to reach through a gap only slightly larger than his arm.

For several seconds, barely enough time to turn and see how the Frost Atronach was succumbing to the sheer weight of bodies pressing through the gates Serana watched how Kaius fumbled inside the doors before his face alighted with triumph.

"Aha! Got you!"

At that moment the Falmer were being slowed more by the sheer number of piled bodies jamming into the gap than the dying efforts of the ruined Atronach but Kaius' face was triumphant even as he held up what was nothing more than a Dwemer cog.

"What the hell is that supposed to be?" Serana snapped, her voice little more than a horrible, wet growl through her mostly changed features as the vampire refused to fully subside with enemies so close.

Grinning through his own mouthful of fangs and barely even a glance at the scrabbling Falmer finally managing to breach the Dwemer gatehouse, Kaius peered through the gap they had made, holding the cog over a shoulder. "You better to be ready to run."

Her sarcastic, bitter retort was cut off in mid breath as she saw him fling the cog through the gap into the room beyond where a loud clang of metal striking metal echoed alarmingly loud. The image of an enormous anvil being struck by a metal dinner plate came to mind and she found the vampire's hold slipping, especially when Kaius gave her a none too gentle shove towards the courtyard.

"What? What the Oblivion…"

"Just shut up and run!" He roared, taking his own advice and moving as quickly as he could down the tunnel. There was a new sound growing audibly over the sound of hundreds, if not thousands of Falmer howling their animalistic hunger into the caverns. It was a clanking, grinding and hissing that was growing louder and louder and despite her vampirism she could feel the creeping sensation of dread crawling up her spine.

Either side of the tunnel were a collection of enormous doors, each five metres high and carved with hundreds of mathematical equations and symbols that almost hurt the eye to look at. There was nothing unusual about them compared to the hundreds of other doors throughout the city besides their size but unlike the one that she and Kaius had forced, these were opening on their own accord.

The roaring of gears and hissing of venting steam emanated from each of the slowly opening doors and in her increasingly rapid sprint she could see the glows building within the darkness. There were figures standing behind every set of doors, and they were twice her height and several times her weight and now after so many years they were awakening once more. Ancient contraptions shaped in a combination of harnesses and restraints were popping free as their occupants growled with steam flooding their metallic veins and every second that passed was filled with the clicking and whirring of unfathomable components returning to life.

Muscles of pistons and hydraulics twitched and shifted, organs of fire and cogs began to turn and glow ruby red in the shadows and the dispassionate expressions of lifelessness drove her ever onwards at such speed that she actually reached the courtyard before Kaius. Eight sets of doors lined each side of the tunnel and behind each were giants of bronze and fire rousing themselves to the intruders in their midst.

With terror gnawing at her from the soulless hate that was washing over her from the Animunculi shuddering the ground as they stepped forward at her back, she almost missed the sight before her within the courtyard itself. Five stories tall and with a build comparable to a wrestler or frost troll, the giant statue too was beginning to vent steam from the collection of pipes and tubes running out of its plinth. The tiny portion of her mind struggling to control her screaming instincts brought realisation that it was not a statue, nor was it a simple Automaton like all the others they had seen or experienced before.

Skidding to a stop in utter horror, Serana stared as the bronze titan shook the dust of eons from its bones in a growling roar of steam and churning gears. An angry red hue grew within its chest as cogs and pistons began to stir, bathing the scowling maw fashioned into the likeness of its creators in the colour of fire and blood.

"What did you do?" She shouted to Kaius as he scrabbled away with undue haste, grabbing her by the arm on his way past.

"Less talking, more running!" His grip was as strong as steel and he practically picked her up and began sprinting without a backwards glance.

A pillared leg as strong as the mountains crunched into the tiles as the gigantic Dwemer Colossus took its first step in three thousand years, shaking the very earth with its incomprehensible weight. It moved like an old man, hunched and bent under the weight of centuries but there was something beneath the cold, mechanical exterior, something beyond its soulless birth that screamed of hatred and murder.

"How do you run from something like that?"

"You don't!" Kaius said breathlessly as he continued to sprint as fast as his vampirism let him, dragging Serana until she too began to sprint. "You just need to outrun the Falmer!"

Burning with a heart of molten fury, the Colossus strode forward in a building cloud of steam and whirring gears akin to a battle roar that threatened to shake the very heavens themselves. Something within the roar triggered all of the instinctive portions of her mind, including the vampiric ones and she no longer needed goading to run as fast as she could. Kaius and Serana sprinted as quickly as their cursed bodies allowed them too, taking the stairs leading up into the giant column of stone and metal four or even five at a time in their haste to put as much distance between themselves and the giant of bronze and steam.

"Close them! Close the fucking doors!"

The stairs culminated at a set of doors no different from the others they had pried open only minutes before. These however were wide open, revealing nothing more than a single, perfectly circular room where the remaining members of the excavation were cringing in terror and horror at the sight of the Animunculi coming to life in the heart of the Falmer hordes.

Hundreds of the foul creatures were flowing over the curtain walls surrounding the stone column, some clawing their way up with nothing more than their sharpened fingernails and the desire to consume flesh and others assisted by the fact that they were riding on the backs of giant Chaurus. These Chaurus in particular were true monsters, towering over everything else except for the Dwemer Colossus in the central courtyard with mandibles large enough to bite a full grown man in half. No matter where any of them looked, the Falmer were swarming, covering the ancient marble and metal with their squirming bodies until the entire Dwemer cathedral appeared to be nothing more than a squirming anthill.

Against any other foe the Falmer were an unstoppable tide of clawed, diseased death. They would have dragged down and devoured any military force in Tamriel with ease, but against the awakened Animunculi they were being slaughtered. Within the gatehouse tunnel a hissing, roaring wall of steam was erupting with the force of a volcanic eruption and dozens of Falmer were boiled alive with their flesh peeling off their bodies. The steam was so thick that nothing could move within a dozen metres of the entrance, the heat of the mist forcing the swarm to shift and retreat away even before the first automatons appeared like avenging spirits.

While noticeably smaller, these Animunculi were still twice the height of a man and moved with an impossible precision that no mortal military force could match. They stomped and moved like they were men weight down by their equipment but their blows were unstoppable by any non-dwemer craft. The Falmer died by the dozens every second as the Dwemer Centurions marched out as though they were soldiers on a parade ground, each pair of the bronze giants sliding into a formation that hacked, slashed, crushed and blasted the Falmer apart with great breaths of steam.

With an click and a groan, the doors began closing and much to the surprise of the survivors the floor began moving, slowly lowering even before the doors had fully closed. They all could only watch in terrorised amazement as the last sight they had before the doors fully closed was of the titanic Dwemer Golem in the centre of the rampaging Falmer turning to face the former slaves of its masters. The opened maw of the tube-barrel on its arm was spinning, the growing whine of metal turning into an ear piercing shriek seconds before it scoured the courtyard clean with fire.

* * *

Plunging deep into the earth, the huddled mass of survivors sunk to the floor of the great lift. Several were incapable of doing anything more than weep or stare into the semidarkness in shock, their wide eyes and pale expressions almost glowing in the shadows as they struggled to comprehend everything that had happened. All injuries and their exhaustion was forgotten for the moment but it would not be long before they made themselves felt once again. They had escaped, but there was not many among them who failed to notice the fact that the elevator was descending deeper underground.

The ominous thudding and roaring from the top had died away suspiciously quickly and many wondered whether that signified that they were already too deep in the rock or whether the impervious Dwemer constructions had already dealt with the Falmer. Not a word was spoken however, most of them couldn't work out anything to say even as the lift reached the end of its descent and came to a soft, peaceful stop.

Unlike the fortress that the top of the lift had been built within, the bottom appeared to be nothing more than a sparsely decorated room large enough to house a dozen or more people with reasonable personal space. There was no furniture, not even the Dwemer equivalent of tables or chairs and other than a single, circular hatch sticking out of a wall there were nothing of note at all. The only other occupant other than themselves within the entire Dwemer-made cavern was a solitary Dwemer Spider, slowly scuttling its way across the floor with its mechanical mandibles clicking and flicking up errant motes of dust into its inner workings. The fact that two dozen exhausted, injured and mentally overwhelmed men and mer had suddenly appeared in its domain didn't illicit even the tiniest of responses as it continued on with its mindless task as it had for centuries.

There was no noise, no sounds of anything besides the faint click-clack of the spider's talons and mandibles on the stone floor and gingerly the survivors moved out of the lift expecting death to leap upon them in any moment. Compared to the city far above their heads, the room was deathly quiet and barely of them spoke, even when Kaius moved ahead toward the set of doors opposite the great lift no one uttered a single word, but many of their jaws fell open in amazement as he pushed them open.

Beyond was an enormous cavern, far larger and expansive than Alftand. Indeed, it was so large that the city could have fit dozens of times over in the area that was visible. Enormous luminescent fungus and mushrooms rose up to the cavern roof a hundred or more metres above, and the ceiling itself was covered in enormous stalagmites glowing with fungus that gave the appearance of the star filled night sky.

The building they were within appeared to be nothing more than the nexus of a smaller, but more tightly packed Dwemer compound similar in size and shape to a surface castle if not for the obvious cultural differences. Towers and buttressed walls circled the gigantic column of stone that speared up into the roof and the city beyond, and carefully the last survivors of the Alftand expedition gazed in amazement at the sights.

Only those familiar with him could see the way that Kaius stood in amongst the sights offered by _Zhardum D'faldin_; known by some as the Kingdom of Blackreach. Unlike the others gazing about with eyes reflecting the wonder and amazement that they felt, Kaius was standing with his hands turned up as though feeling the faint breeze through the cavern with his eyes firmly closed. There was something in his expression that seemed utterly alien compared to all the death and horror they had experienced, but there was also no doubting the faintest traces of a smile of contentment pricking the corners of his mouth.

Breathing in a great breath into his lungs, he sighed it out but as much as he appeared to relax, there was also a new wariness within him that his closest companions couldn't help but notice.

"Now we must be truly careful." He said simply, catching the attention of Sofia, Lydia and Serana as he spoke. "There are worse things in the Underdark than the Falmer..."

* * *

Besides the epilogue, this is the last Chapter of Blood, Ice and Oil.

Translations:

Dovahzul:

Stin Nol Faaz - Free From Painbr /

Ensosin Dwiin Yol - Enchant Steel Fire

Ta'Agra:

_"Dejoh jer vako liter_?" - Can't you see brother?

_"Keth deqe ali vaba bohaka an seja di zivshi ketith lofith Jan jeke_!" - Blood needs to be spilled and the furs of the golden enslave(rs) cover his flesh!


	13. Emergence

Eydanna was a troubled woman. It was easy for someone in her position to be troubled, for as the days progressed and the approach of spring began being counted in days rather than weeks she knew that the war would begin anew. It took a certain type of individual to fight during the long nights of Winter, where the cold and the blizzards moving south covered everything north of the Jerall Mountains in snow so it was the warmer months that war was fought. This would be the third consecutive year of bloodshed since the Imperials failed attempt to assassinate Ulfric at Helgen, but for most the Civil war had been raging in one form or another for eight years now.

Eight years. The number sat in her belly like cooled lead and she could do little but lean on her fists over the table and hand drawn map in her tent. Although there hadn't been actual fighting until Tullius had dared to capture Ulfric and the subsequent appearance of Dragons those years had been long and painful. There also hadn't been any real change since the fateful day that Ulfric duelled the High King, forts and strongholds remained firmly in the hands of each side and other than skirmishes and several 'large-scale' battles in contested regions it was quiet.

The excitement of the younger men and women under her command were also another source of amusement and bitterness in equal parts. It took all of her willpower not to grimace at their youthful confidence and hatred for their fellow Nords, especially at their tales and stories of taking part in the '_Battles_' against the Imperials. Eydanna's sword arm may not have been as strong as it used to be and the number of grey hairs outnumbered the brown, but she could remember what it was like to fight a _real_ battle.

Some nights she returned to those bloodsoaked plains and shores of the Niben, where Tamriel trembled under the weight of the millions of men and elves marching to the death. The mountain-cracking roars of "_Dovah Invicta_!" still echoed in her mind, as did the sight of the Emperor standing before the Legions with his sword held high. It had been that true battle that she was left with a scar down an arm and an elbow that hurt whenever a storm approached but there weren't many anymore who could say that they fought at the Red Ring.

Breaking into her introspection and vigil of studying a map that hadn't changed in three years a young soldier burst through the canvass flaps almost at a dead run. He was flushed, panting and sweating under his heavy steel armour and furs, but almost skidded to a halt while attempting to make the semblance of a salute.

"Commander. Sergeant Tolglvaror requests your presence. _Urgently_."

Trying her best to hide her annoyance, she lifted her head and stared at the young man and his crude attempt at growing a beard. The men and women under her command were a motley collection of hardened veterans decades on the wrong side of old age, and levies barely out of their teens. Some like the Stormcloak standing before only seemed to highlight her own age, whereas others like Tolglvaror formed the old, grey haired core with all their idiosyncrasies and experience.

"What's gotten Crack-tooth excited this time?" She asked simply, seeing not only the way that the young Stormcloak was almost shaking with nervousness but the faint hints of a smile at his direct commander's name. If she and Tolglvaror were still serving in the Legion her would have been her Centurion and she would have held the rank of Tribune, but their allegiance these days belonged to Ulfric.

"The… The ruins… They're…"

Raising a gloved hand, she somehow managed to keep her building annoyance in check. "Take a breath and calm down. What's is the problem?"

Despite taking a moment to suck in a great lungful of air and let it out, the soldier didn't look any more relaxed under Eydanna's gaze. "The ruins have started… _moving_…"

A chill coursed up her spine and her sudden jolt of activity startled the Stormcloak before she stepped around him and outside the tent. Her thick wolfskin cloak was left behind on one of her armour stands and the drop in temperature was noticeable but what was even more noticeable was the way that the ruins were indeed moving and filled with activity.

Eydanna's company of Stormcloaks had been encamped on this section of mountainside for close to two years now and their camp was purely responsible for watching the Yorgrim Valley for Imperial forces. With Lake Yorgrim to the North, the great spear of white stone of Mount Shearpoint to the south west and Windhelm beyond the valley to the east they had incredible views and the perfect vantage point. The only issue was that they were for all intents and purposes squatting on top of an ancient ruined Dwemer fortress on one of the dozens of peaks.

Thousands of years before the Dwemer too had taken advantage of such a perfect strategic location and built their fortress on top of it. It was little more than a crumbling ruin but it did provide shelter and protection from the elements for those under her command.

Turning her gaze over the ruins around their collection of tents, she could easily see that the messenger was correct. One of the larger of the buildings in the centre of the Dwemer fortress was shifting and moving, ancient components that had become overgrown with accumulated dust and the resulting plant life were now shaking themselves free.

Among the usual strategic considerations, one reason that they had set up camp within the ruins was that the broken pipes and collections of vents allowed the Stormcloaks to gather as much water as they needed without journeying down the mountain. Some of the more industrious of her soldiers had even managed to rig up their own collections of pipes and buckets that allowed them all to shower even in the coldest of winter months but to Eydanna's experienced eye she could see that there were a lot of pipes emitting steam that had never done so since their arrival.

"Sound the alarm." She said without a sideways glance to the messenger and she heard rather than saw the way he saluted by smacking his fist against his chest before moving away. Many of the Stormcloaks within the camp had been looking around with some concern and when they saw their commander moving they began gathering their equipment even before she began ordering them to do so.

One of the other veterans, the leathery skinned leader of her scouts crawled his way out of his tent at the sudden noise and movement. He was one of the few that she wouldn't strip his back for sleeping during the day, especially after his latest three-day patrol. "Kuvus! I want you and your men on the walls."

Easily the oldest member of the company, Kuvus rolled his jaw and spat a stream of canis-root stained saliva on the ground. "Trouble m'am?"

"It is possible." It was strangely calming to see the old ranger gather his bow and string it as though the eighty pound draw strength was nothing. There was not a single creature in all of Skyrim that he hadn't successfully hunted and she believed that if anyone could bring down a dragon it could be the elderly hunter. "Let me know if you see anything."

"Yes m'am." Turning away from her, the silver haired veteran gestured to the handful of bow and crossbow wielding Stormcloaks who immediately began running ahead of the others moving deeper into the ruins. Most of her soldiers were out on patrols, ensuring that the Imperials weren't taking advantage of the storms and reduced visibility to sneak forces down from Nightgate Village to the Northwest but there were still several dozen behind securing their camp.

"You two!" The two Stormcloaks in question stopped at her gesture as she pointed between the and the path leading down the mountain. "Go get Sergeant Illdgela and tell her to bring the scorpion."

She wasn't going to take any chances. When she and what had been her company arrived at the ruins they had to clear it of a handful of automatons that were still endlessly patrolling the broken ramparts. They had managed to destroy them with only a few casualties but there were enough stories of worse Animunculi than Spheres to leave her concerned. Bringing the lightest siege engine mightn't help much but it certainly would be better than finding out that they needed it after leaving it behind.

The building at the heart of the disturbance was one of the several that they had never successfully broken inside to see what it contained. Some were obviously houses or ancient storerooms of various sizes and descriptions and had been quickly utilised for barracks but this one in particular looked more like a windowless tower or bastion than anything else. There had been many discussions about its purpose, but now it was almost a living thing.

Cogs and gears twisted and rotated, pistons and other mechanical components groaned and the ruins were echoing with the _chuff-chuff-chuff_ of the dozens of pipes venting steam at the same time. For the moment at least the doors remained firmly shut, which gave her and many of the other Stormcloaks time to rush up with their armour and weapons and form up around them.

"Shieldwall!"

Reacting for once with timeliness and something close to the precision of regular soldiers, the levied and conscripted Stormcloaks lifted their shields and locked together with their comrades. There was the second or two of rattling wood and metal as the roundshields were placed together until a wall of flesh, wood and steel was between them and anything that appeared.

"What do you think commander?" Growled sergeant Tolglvaror. Like some of the other veterans, he too had served in the Legion and like Eydanna had even fought in the Battle of the Red Ring. Unlike her however, he harboured a burning hatred of all things elven with a passion that was frankly alarming if it wasn't so useful. Against the insidious mental poisonings and efforts of the Thalmor and their Inquisitors, Skyrim needed men such as Tolglvaror to help keep the worship of Talos alive.

"The ruins have never done anything like this." She said simply, sparing a glance to her racist subordinate as he dug about in his mouth with a gloved finger.

"They have not m'am. This is just some sort of elvish buggery I reckon."

Choosing as she usually did to ignore his usual comments and distrust of anything that wasn't made by the hands of 'hard-working' Nords, she kept her gaze focussed on the Dwemer doors. These doors in particular had proven impervious to any form of damage and over a year previous had even allowed Illdgela to bring up one of her ballistae to try to break in. The experienced engineer was a combination of surprised and concerned when her efforts hadn't resulted in anything more than a handful of broken, twenty kilogram steel bolts without even a scratch in the metal to show for it. This alone increased their wariness as the doors split and began to hinge open on their own accord.

Within the shadows of the building there was movement and out of the corners of her eyes she could see the tensing of every man and woman under her command as they saw the humanoid silhouettes. The entire shield wall braced and visibly lowered as ever soldier dug their heels into the ground and a collection of arrows and were drawn back and crossbows aimed.

"Hold! For the love of Talos hold!"

The voice calling out from the interior of the Dwemer structure caused a ripple to flow through the shield wall and Eydanna raised a hand to her troops. "Identify yourself!"

A figure stepped towards the centre of the doorway as the others with him shifted out of the line of sight of the dozens of archers and crossbowmen standing behind the ranks of armoured Stormcloaks. "Kaius Desin. We are members of an archaeological expedition."

More than one of the Stormcloaks whispered to themselves and became agitated at the name and Eydanna herself was not immune. There were not many within Skyrim she supposed that wouldn't have heard the name before but in such a situation was suspicious indeed.

"Tolglvaror, with me. Kuvus, keep an eye on things."

The series of grunted _m'ams_ were not lost to her as she stepped through the sudden gap in the shieldwall to allow her and old _Crack-Tooth_ to approach the figure. Despite the situation she wasn't concerned with an errant arrow or bolt being loosed, as Kuvus and the other scouts and archers were all woodsmen, poachers and hunters before they became Stormcloaks. As such they were among the most experienced and professional of all those under her command.

As for the figure standing in the middle of the now open Dwemer doors, he had a commanding air that she would have sworn she had experienced before. Despite the fact that he and the others at his back were surrounded by over a hundred armed Stormcloaks with weapons drawn and ready there wasn't even the slightest trace of fear or concern on his face.

"I hope you realise how suspicious this appears." She said as they moved over to him. "Especially given the fact that you are claiming to have the same name as the Dragonborn."

The silence that fell and the way that his lips remained sealed shut increased the tension for a few moments but she and Tolglvaror were both close enough to see that he was considering his reply rather than being obstinate.

"I don't have the same name as the Dragonborn. I am the Dragonborn."

"What brings you to Raldbthar?" Tolglvaror growled, immediately picking up on his commander's unease and reacting in his usual manner. In the building, Eydanna could see a dozen or more men and women trying their best to appear as nonthreatening as possible which was helped by the fact that they all appeared filthy, malnourished and most were sporting injuries.

Kaius' gaze was as cold as the world-storm that still raged over the mountains to the north and Tolglvaror twitched uneasily from its intensity. He was not a man to be cowed, but there was something about Kaius that screamed '_dangerous_' and Eydanna could believe that they really were facing a legend in the flesh. She decided that he had the look of a man who would march up to the gates of Oblivion and kick them in.

"As I said…" He growled. "We're members of an expedition to the Dwemer ruins of Alftand. Many of us are sick and injured, and it has been a long time since we have had a proper meal." Slowly, his head turned with all the inevitability of a ballista changing targets and he stared Eydanna down. "I request aid."

The silence fell as both sides bristled but Eydanna nodded once, turning and gesturing for her troops to lower their weapons. For several seconds there was nothing else to be heard but shuffling and the wooden impacts of the shieldwall dismantling itself and the creaking of bows easing tension. Kaius for his part turned and gave his own nod and the men and women within the building staggered out into the sunlight.

Over the course of the previous years, especially during the constant skirmishing and raids Eydanna and other Stormcloaks had seen refugees and others fleeing the fighting. There was a particular look that they all mutually shared but never had any of them seen a sight such as those Kaius led. Her initial opinion of their unwashed and haggard appearances were suddenly proven to be underestimates if anything and most, Kaius included were gaunt to the point of starvation.

Their flesh was pale, and the injuries that some had sustained had been treated with little more than restoration magicka and prayer and several were obviously sick. What she and the other soldiers were not expecting were their reactions at leaving the shadowed interior. More than one simply fell to their knees in the sunlight as though it and the chilly breeze on their flesh was the greatest sensation they had ever experienced and several were outright weeping.

Tolglvaror found himself the centre of attention for one of the survivors, struggling to decide how to react or what to do when a half starved Dunmer wrapped his arms around the elderly Nord and began soaking his furred shoulder with tears. Racist almost to the point of brutality, he could do nothing but look with dawning horror and surprise at their appearances even as the weeping Dunmer's knees gave out from relief.

Many of the other Stormcloaks shifted forward from where they had been standing and approached those appearing most in need. Several of the survivors almost collapsed as whatever will or drive to continue on finally disappeared and Eydanna watched as two of her men walked past carrying a female Altmer as carefully as they would have their own children. Her eyes were glued to where the High Elf's legs had abruptly ended and were replaced with stumps wrapped in scavenged cloth bandages. She was awake and conscious but was like the others besides herself with joy.

"What… What happened to you all?"

Kaius' expression was sombre as he looked out over the men and women that he had led through the depths as they were assisted by the Stormcloaks. Even some of the most hardened individuals in the company were struggling to keep their composure as they went to the aid of the new arrivals and his gaze lingered for a moment on Tolglvaror as he awkwardly pried the dark elf away and handed him over to one of his soldiers.

"Our expedition was trapped underground by the world-storm without supplies. We had to journey through the Dwemer City of Alftand and then through the tunnels and caves until we found a way back to the surface." His eyes met Eydanna's and the first true signs of stress began to bleed out of him as he rubbed at the dirt on his unshaven face.

"How long have you been underground?"

He shrugged, gesturing hopelessly even as he nodded to one of the women being helped by the Stormcloaks. The brunette was dressed in a similarly battered set of plate armour that appeared as though it hadn't been removed in quite some time but she was refusing to let go of the travelling pack on her back. "I'm not certain. What day is it?"

"The Twenty-fourth of Sun's Dawn." Tolglvaror replied simply, now free of the Dunmer but not of his unease and embarrassment.

Kaius blinked, opened his mouth and closed it before turning to look out over the Valley stretching out beyond the Dwemer fortifications. "Three months… We have been underground for over three months."

Usually such a statement would have left them plagued with doubt but the crushing weight of emotion on his face and the appearance of the newcomers all but confirmed the truth. They also didn't know what to do when he breathed in a deep wracking breath, shuddering his body with the effort and again rubbing his face and the rough beard he wore.

"But you made it." His eyes glanced in Eydanna's direction and the smile he wore was sad.

"A lot of us didn't."

Quickly looking about at the mass of Stormcloaks helping Kaius' group, Eydanna counted seventeen emasculated men and mer and the sinking feeling she gained was almost crippling in its intensity. "How many?"

"There was originally fifty-six of us in total. We were all extremely lucky."

Almost one of out every three had survived but judging by their appearances they were on their last legs. Without food or medical attention, the others wouldn't have lasted much longer and Kaius' expression told them that he knew that intimately.

"Would there be any other survivors?"

Kaius shook his head sadly. "No. We're all that is left of the expedition."

* * *

_Three months later._

Creeping forward as softly as he could manage, Ryldrin T'oryn kept himself low to the ground with his crossbow held tight to the shoulder. He could feel the stones under his boots with every step but he was a pocket of silence in the darkened depths. Only through the use of his infravison could he see the other scouts picking their way through the fungal forest that they had been utilising to creep up on the _Calussai_ nest and as they had done several times before the foul creatures wouldn't know they were there until it was too late.

He could smell them now, the strong pungent scent of decay and misery that seemed to flow from every corrupted pore of their body but unfortunately he and the other scouts were not there to slaughter them all. The days of _streeakh_; suicide squads had long since passed and the Drow military had changed along with a great many other things in recent generations.

They were professional soldiers now, not conscripted slaves and in fact there hadn't been a true slave within Menzoberranzan in almost two full generations of Drow. The Empress was very, very specific in this regards but while the great houses bickered and fought in the depths of the city and the other allied city-states, Ryldrin knew firsthand the effects this cultural shift made.

As a male, born on the lower levels of social strata he would have been expected to die unnamed and forgotten on a whim by the ruling matriarchy. During the time of his grandfather and under the rule of the Spider-Queen he and all other males would have been property, cheap and inexpensive and easy to replace as needed. Now they were fully fledged members of Drow society and were able to choose their own fates.

He had chosen to be in the _Reformist_ army of Menzoberranzan almost within minutes of its creation by the Empress's consort and his skills had led him into the ranks of the Scouts. They were an elite force of the new Drow Military and he found himself actually filled with pride at how not only had he attempted the gruelling trials, but he had been handpicked by Empress-Consort Desin Himself! Before his disappearance from the Underdark he had built up the scouts to be the elite vanguard of the _Dek'zan_ and he was determined to be the very best of them all.

Such drive and ambition had resulted in this; a long range scouting mission outside of the Drow territories and deep into the realm of the _Calussai_. The blind creatures were ever growing in number and it was his responsibility, along with several dozens of chosen scout squads to uncover tunnels and caverns for the Drow army to advance and exterminate.

He and his subordinate scouts had been tracking and infiltrating smaller nests for dozens of sleep cycles now, moving without sound and even going several cycles at a time without speaking a word between themselves. The _Calussai_ were voracious and keen of ear but they were helpless to those who could move without noise.

A chirping ahead of him forced him to stop in place, listening with his crossbow following his gaze as he scanned the thickening mushrooms for the source. To the inbred creatures it would have appeared nothing more than one of their own kind relieving itself, but he and the other scouts used their own noises against them. It was Nhukhim; one of the other scouts and one of the only two humans in their five-man team. This specific chirp was one of warning but not of alarm and was one of the ways they alerted the others when they discovered something that warranted investigating.

Still moving as softly as a shadow, Ryldrin quickly moved closer towards the source of heat that his infravison picked out through the foliage but he could smell it before he could see it. Nhukhim was also kneeling close to the ground, his own crossbow held tightly in one hand as he quickly gestured to the others what he had seen and Ryldrin frowned despite himself. The smell of death was not uncommon around even the smallest of _Calussai_ nests; quite the opposite in fact, but just beyond the edge of the forest was the site of a massacre.

Built into an alcove in the cavern walls a few hundred metres away from the gurgling underground stream, the nest they had intended on sneaking past was well and truly dead. The dozen or so family groups that had been forced south by the overwhelming hordes further to the north were scattered about, their bodies lifeless and cold on the stone.

By dint of surviving in the Underdark, especially in Drow society none of the scouts were inexperienced in brutal, and occasionally overwhelming death, but there was something about the way these _Calussai_ had been… _explosively_ killed was concerning. The three Drow and two humans moved forward as silent as ever after Ryldrin gestured to advance but every step was almost into some scattered remains. Every single one of the blind monsters had been brutally killed. Some had been ripped limb from limb, others suffering enormous wounds as though they had been clawed apart and gutted. Their domesticated chaurus were killed in various ways as well, pulled apart, mangled, hurled against the stones and in the case of one of the _Ogrim_; the giant insect looked as though it had been crushed as one of its larvae would under Ryldrin's black-mithril boot.

This was not the work of Drow or their allies, and not even the Fomorians; the deep-giants could have caused such carnage and Ryldrin was not alone in feeling concerned at finding themselves in such a place. The _Calussai_ were almost an elemental force that could only be fended off with great sacrifice but whatever was responsible for this made the destruction of several score of their kind appear effortless.

Instincts attuned through hundreds, if not thousands of generations of selective breeding and a brutal society forced his body to react and took control away from his conscious mind. Before the threat was even recognised as such he was turning, twisting and leaping backwards from the sudden movement and loosing a crossbow bolt at the same time. Fashioned by some of the finest artificers in Menzoberranzan, the crossbows that the scouts used were things of beauty and launched their deadly projectiles without the faintest noise. Enchantments in the metal and sinew allowed them to launch with incredible precision and it took hundreds of _Black Deaths of Narbondel_ to master.

His bolt flew true even with his instinctive aim and thudded deep into flesh of what appeared to be a moss covered stone that rose from the ground and launched itself at him. The other scouts were moving just as quickly but they were surrounded and somehow taken by surprise by creatures that had been set the trap from the dead _Calussai_.

Fur covered hands tipped with claws as long as his dagger ripped him from his feet and before he could even drop his crossbow and grab his rapier his arms had been pinned to his sides in a grip as unyielding as the stones under their feet. Despite the way that his vision was suddenly consumed by an enormous salivating maw filled with fangs as long as his fingers he knew that the others had also been similar captured.

Determined not to show fear, even if it was something akin to a foreign concept for a being born and raised in the dark heart of Drow society, it was difficult not to shy away as the jaws snapped shut and a twitching nose drew closer to his face. The sniffing and the wet meat-stink of the breath was enough to ruffle his hood and mask as the creature breathed in his scent, before carefully pulling away and looking about at the others of its kind.

"This one smells funny."

"They're not Falmer at least." Said another from behind where Ryldrin was being held off the floor between the enormous paws. The words were harsh and guttural and almost animalistic, sounding much more akin to growls that he could feel in his chest. There was more sniffing from the direction of where the other scouts had been captured and the giant beings seemed to relax.

"This one looks human. I wonder if any of them speak common."

"If they did I doubt that they would be looking as concerned as they are." Said a third, and the grip around his arms lessened somewhat as the creature holding him aloft placed him carefully on the ground.

Ryldrin stood in confusion and amazement as he looked up at the furred creature standing over him. It was much, much larger than he was and a quick glance to the others placing the other scouts down, or in one case letting go of the two it had pinned to the floor under its paws they individually outweighed all of the scouts combined. They were also obviously the creatures responsible for the massacre of the _Calussai_ nest with their talons and hides still drenched in slightly congealed blood.

"What should we do with them?" Growled one of the creatures as it padded over to one of the largest of their number. Despite their size they somehow moved just as silently as Ryldrin and his men, and they their furred bodies were covered in a layer of moss and lichen to create a form of camoflauge that hid their scent and appearance.

"I like. I keep?"

"No J'darr, you can't keep them. You have enough problems caring for yourself, let alone having a pet."

Looking between them, Ryldrin's gaze was drawn to the giant that had subdued him as easily as he could slaughter a sleeping infant. It was by far the largest of the four, but there was something strange about it compared to the others. The left side of its face was slack, drooping down and its eye was unseeing and facing a different direction to the other that was focussed entirely on him. It reminded him of the soulless, hungry expressions of the _Calussai_ as they detected a meal but this being wasn't as insane at least.

"What do we do?" Hissed Nhukhim who tried his best not to budge when the four giants turned their attentions to him. "What are they?"

"I don't know." Whatever they were, they didn't speak Drow and he and other scouts certainly didn't understand the strange growling that passed for their language but their claws had retracted at least. Slowly, raising his hands up to show that they were empty he kept his face expressionless as he pointed to each of them in turn before pointing to the dozens of dead Falmer at their feet.

They all shared a glance that transcended the language barrier and the first of the creatures to speak growled in something that was obviously pleasure. "Yes. We did this." It said in its unknowable language and Ryldrin shared a look with his fellow scouts as they mutually shrugged.

Such a reaction wasn't lost on any of them and the largest of the creatures took several steps towards the nearest corpse, lifting its foot and stomping down hard enough that the head and torso exploded. The message was clear though, as was the sudden, savage grin that the Drow and humans wore after lowering their masks and revealing their faces.

"Whatever they are, they don't like the _Calussai_." Ryldrin said to the other scouts and they nodded in agreement.

"So, what are we going to do with them?"

Looking briefly over his shoulder at the way that they were standing, his eyes were drawn to the various pouches and belts that they wore. The largest one of the group wore a necklace of severed _Calussai_ ears across a chest he and Nhukhim would've struggled to jointly wrap their arms around and they all wore their scars with considerable pride.

"We take them back to the city." His voice was soft and he gestured to the four beings with an unmistakable '_follow me_' gesture. "The Empress will know what to do…"

* * *

Translations:

Drow:

Calussai - Eaters/Falmer

Dek'zan - Legions

Ogrim - Reapers

The _Rhat_ brothers have now joined a collection of characters in my heart and I couldn't help but keep them for later adventures. The fact that they managed to make their way through hundreds of kilometres of Falmer infested tunnels and caverns to reach the Drow territories under Cyrodiil shows they're a bit tough... Lol.

I have plans for them, but they won't appear for the rest of _Sos do Dov_...

But, this concludes the latest, (and largest) instalment of _Sos do Dov_ and I hope everyone has enjoyed it. I have a further three stories planned before the series concludes, but Kaius, Sofia, Lydia and Serana have plenty of adventures ahead of them!

Unfortunately I'm going through a bit of a writers block so it could be a while before three next installment comes along, but I fully intend on finishing Kaius' story!


End file.
